Stories this week at WFU

WAKE FOREST DIVINITY SCHOOL PLANS OPENING CONVOCATION — The Wake Forest University Divinity School officially starts its sixth academic year at 11 a.m. Aug. 31 in Wait Chapel with an opening convocation address from university President Thomas K. Hearn Jr. This is the first time Hearn has delivered the address during the Divinity School’s opening convocation. The free, public event marks a new year for the Divinity School and its 96 students. The school, which opened in 1999 and graduated its first class in 2002, will welcome 32 first-year students this year. The new students come to Wake Forest from 13 different states and represent nine religious denominations. Hearn is entering his last academic year as president of Wake Forest. He has announced he will retire in June 2005. For more information or to arrange coverage, contact Jacob McConnico at mcconnjn@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

STOP THINKING ABOUT YOURSELF SO MUCH — “Few people realize how profoundly their lives are affected by their self-thoughts or how frequently this inner chatter interferes with their success, pollutes their personal relationships and undermines their happiness,” says psychology professor Mark Leary. In his new book, “The Curse of the Self” (Oxford University Press, August 2004), Leary explores how people create a variety of personal and social problems by thinking about themselves too much. Often, feelings such as depression, anxiety and anger occur because individuals cannot stop dwelling on some past failure or future worry. Leary will appear at local bookstores during the month of September. For information, contact Cheryl Walker at walkercv@wfu.edu or 758-6073.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE SHOULD NOT BE LEFT BEHIND — As the No Child Left Behind Act and budget woes put pressure on many school systems to cut back on foreign language study in the elementary grades, Mary Lynn Redmond advocates for strengthening foreign language programs. Redmond is associate professor of education at Wake Forest and executive secretary of the National Network for Early Language Learning, housed at Wake Forest. “Learning languages helps increase listening ability, memory, creativity and critical thinking — all of which are thinking processes that increase learning in general,” Redmond says. “The work force has an increased demand for people who can speak foreign languages at a sophisticated level,” she says. “School administrators have to think out of the box and look at foreign language study as a regular part of the curriculum. Redmond edited the book, “Teacher to Teacher: Model Lessons for K-8 Foreign Language.”