Stories this week at WFU

NEW GUIDELINES OUTLINE SPECIFICS OF HEALTHY DIET, LIFESTYLE — March is National Nutrition Month and Wake Forest University nutrition expert Gary Miller says the USDA’s new dietary guidelines should make choosing nutritious foods easier for more Americans. Miller, associate professor of health and exercise science, says the new guidelines achieve this by specifying which foods within each food group are the best choices. “There is a greater emphasis on whole grains, lean protein such as fish or beans, and healthier fats such as olive oil,” Miller says. Miller also says the new guidelines differ from the old guidelines by emphasizing the importance of exercise. “Exercise is stressed because of the numerous benefits an active lifestyle provides, for example with heart disease, diabetes, and weight management,” Miller said. “With the current obesity epidemic, being physically active favors an energy balance conducive to weight loss.”

Contact: Maggie Barrett, barretmb@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

 

WFU STUDENTS TRAVEL TO NYC FOR ART BUYING SPREE — During spring break, six Wake Forest University students will go to New York City in search of works by yet-to-be famous artists to add to the university’s Student Union Collection of Contemporary Art. The trip runs from March 9-13. Since 1963, students have traveled to New York to purchase paintings, prints, sculptures and other works of art. The Student Union Collection now includes more than 100 pieces with some by such well-known artists as Jasper Johns and Roy Lichtenstein. “This year’s group of students will focus more on emerging artists than well-established ones because of the inflated art market,” said Robert Knott, professor of art at Wake Forest and the faculty leader accompanying the students to New York. The students all completed Knott’s contemporary art seminar in the fall and have met weekly to identify and discuss contemporary artists and their work. Each student has researched specific artists, spending a lot of time looking at magazines and gallery Web sites. They have contacted galleries to find out general price ranges and availability of works.

Contact: Cheryl Walker, walkercv@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

 

WFU CAMPUS TO KICK UP ITS HEELS AT 8TH ANNUAL IRISH FESTIVAL — Wake Forest University Press, the premier publisher of Irish poetry in North America, will host the 8th Annual Wake Forest Irish Festival beginning March 12 with the Irish Festival Community Day from 12 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Davis Field on Wake Forest’s campus. Admission is free. The community day, which draws crowds of more than 3,500 people, features a variety of Irish cultural activities, including music, dancing, storytelling and arts and craft activities. Celtic instruments, books, crafts as well as Irish food will also be available for purchase. The Irish Festival will resume March 15 with “Across the Ocean, into the Mountain: An Irish/Appalachian Evening” at 7 p.m. at The Garage in downtown Winston-Salem. The event, which costs $5, will include live music, dancing and storytelling. The festival continues March 16 through 18 with free events, including a concert, poetry contest, poetry reading with famed Irish poet Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin and a colloquium. A full story with details on all activities is available on the News Service Web site at http://www.wfu.edu/wfunews/2005/021405i.html.

Contact: Pam Barrett, barretpm@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

 

INNOVATE OR DIE: SUCCESFUL BUSINESS STRATEGIES — A new book by Michael Lord, associate professor of management and director of the Flow Institute for International Studies at Wake Forest, offers in-depth analysis of 250 recent corporate innovation initiatives in industries ranging from manufacturing to biotech, retail to information technology. The book, “Innovation that Fits: Moving Beyond the Fads to Choose the Right Innovation Strategy for Your Business,” was co-written with Don deBethizy, founder, president and chief executive officer of Targacept Inc., and Jeff Wager, founder and managing member of the consulting firm CPP Advisors. It provides assessments of every leading approach to business innovation – advantages and drawbacks and challenges to carrying out the projects. The authors also demonstrate a new model for business innovation. Lord’s teaching, research and consulting work focus on innovation-driven venturing such as start-ups, high-tech mergers and acquisitions and spinouts; international expansion, particularly into emerging markets such as China; and strategic management of public policy and public affairs.

Contact: Dusty Donaldson, dusty.donaldson@mba.wfu.edu or 336-758-4454.

 

EINSTEIN EXPERT TO SPEAK IN HONOR OF WORLD YEAR OF PHYSICS — Clifford Will, one of the world’s leading authorities on Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity, will speak at Wake Forest at 8 p.m. March 17 in Pugh Auditorium in Benson University Center. The free, public event is sponsored by Wake Forest’s physics department. It is part of the 2005 World Year of Physics, a world-wide celebration to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s five papers that influenced all areas of modern physics. Will, the James S. McDonnell Professor of Physics and a member of the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., is known for his expertise in physics and his ability to make the subject understandable to the average person. He says Einstein’s ideas led to the creation of several technologies we use every day, as well as an increased understanding of the world in which we live and its surroundings. “These discoveries led to revolutionary applications such as lasers, semiconductors and nuclear energy,” Will said. “Einstein’s discoveries also altered forever how we think about space, time and the universe.”

Contact: Maggie Barrett, barretmb@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

 

N.C. ONE OF TEN REMAINING NON-LOTTERY STATES IN U.S. — As the 2005 North Carolina General Assembly turns once again to consider a state lottery, legislators will be conscious of the fact that the number of non-lottery states declined by one this past November, when Oklahoma became the 40th state to approve a lottery, says John Dinan, Zachary T. Smith Associate Professor of Political Science at Wake Forest. This leaves North Carolina as one of 10 non-lottery states in the United States, and one of four such states in the South. “Although opposition to the lottery is generally quite strong among conservative citizens and lawmakers who decry the moral consequences of lottery playing – it’s no surprise that nine of the ten non-lottery states voted Republican in the 2004 presidential election – opposition in North Carolina has also been led by liberals who fear the regressive financial effects of lotteries on the poorest citizens,” Dinan said. An expert on voter behavior, Dinan has tracked lottery legislation across the country and is available to provide expert commentary on the lottery question in North Carolina.

Contact: Jacob McConnico, mcconnjn@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

Categories: Arts & Culture, Campus Life, Community, Events, Student