Stories this week at WFU

THE SERIOUS IMPLICATIONS OF OFFICE ROMANCE — In light of corporate scandals and the recent events at Boeing, it might seem as though businesses are now demanding that employees, especially CEOs, adhere strictly to ethics and company codes of conduct. “Most organizations have policies against romantic relationships involving employees between whom there is a power differential,” says Julie Holiday Wayne, who studies sexual harassment in the workplace. “Such relationships present a greater potential for claims of sexual harassment.” Wayne, adjunct assistant professor at the Calloway School of Business and Accountancy, is an expert on what behaviors people perceive as sexual harassment in the workplace.

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

 

8TH IRISH FESTIVAL BRINGS POETRY, MUSIC, CULTURE TO WFU — Wake Forest University Press, the premier publisher of Irish poetry in North America, will host the 8th Annual Wake Forest Irish Festival starting March 12 with the Irish Festival Community Day from 12 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on the university’s Davis Field. 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 costs $5 and includes 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.

 

WFU STUDENTS TRAVEL TO NYC IN SEARCH OF NEXT PICASSO — During spring break, six Wake Forest students traveled 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 students will return March 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.

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

 

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.

 

EXPERT ON CIVIL RIGHTS IN THE SOUTH TO SPEAK AT WFU — Tim Tyson, an expert on the African-American freedom movements in the 20th century South, will speak at 7:30 p.m. March 15 in Wake Forest’s Wait Chapel. Tyson’s address is titled “Miss Amy’s Witness: Why Our History of the Civil Rights Movement is (Almost) All Wrong!” Tyson, a native of North Carolina, teaches Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He is also the author of the recently published book, “Blood Done Sign My Name.” The book chronicles the story of a racial murder and black uprising in Tyson’s hometown of Oxford. There will be a book signing at the University Bookstore following Tyson’s lecture. The event is free and open to the public.

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

 

ETHNICITY AND DIVERSITY ALIVE AND WELL AT WFU — Wake Forest will hold the four-day Diversity Days, a celebration of ethnicity and diversity, March 17-20. The celebration will include programs and events that reflect different cultural heritages and highlight ethnicity and diversity on campus and in the community. All events are free and open to the public. Diversity Days begins with an International Festival from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. March 17 on Davis Field in front of Scales Fine Arts Center. The festival will include students dressed in ethnic costumes, international music, ethnic foods plus an international fair featuring various student organizations. From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., the program “An Evening of Diversity” will be held in Annenberg Forum in Carswell Hall. The program will feature singer Sheila Burnett of the 1960s group The Royalettes; 2005 Rhodes Scholar and Wake Forest senior Rebecca Cook; retired businessman Frank Barbelace; and actress Kimberly Brooks. The International Fair continues from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. March 18 and will include live musical performances and a belly dance troupe from Asheville. Details on all events are available on the News Service Web site at http://www.wfu.edu/wfunews/2005/030205d.html.

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

 

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.

 

WFU BAHA’I STUDENT GROUP TO HOLD NEW YEAR CELEBRATION — The Wake Forest University Baha’i Association will host its second annual Naw Ruz (Baha’i New Year) celebration at 7 p.m. March 18 in the university’s Benson University Center, Room 401. The event is free and open to the public. The event features the West Coast hip-hop group Justice Leeg, which will be coming to Wake Forest directly from a concert with Clay Aiken and Counting Crows. The Wake Forest Gospel Choir will perform, and a free international buffet will be offered as part of the event. The buffet is in observance of the end of the Baha’i 19-day fast. The stated goal of the Baha’i association at Wake Forest is to create a sense of community, since unity is among the stated principles of the Baha’i faith. For more information, call 336-758-6570.

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

 

STUDENTS ENJOY SPRING BREAK — Wake Forest’s Reynolda Campus is quieter this week, as undergraduate students are enjoying spring break. Students will return for the start of classes March 14.

Categories: Arts & Culture, Community, Events, Research, Student