WFU in the news: Feb. 20-26, 2023

FEATURED NEWS

Teaching students to think beyond themselves
By Colleen Flaherty | Inside Higher Ed
Explicitly teaching character in college? Data from Wake Forest University show that character education helps students develop virtues and think beyond themselves. It’s not a new idea, but it’s not widespread. Now the Lilly Endowment is giving Wake Forest’s Program for Leadership and Character $31 million over five years to expand—including by helping build a network of character education programs across academe. – 2/20/2023

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

The test after Ohio chemical spill: How to repair derailed trust
By Xander Peters | Christian Science Monitor
“You’re not going to turn things around in a 24-hour news cycle,” said Stan Meiburg, executive director of Wake Forest University’s Center for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability. “You have to commit yourself to a long-term engagement with the community of being available, being transparent, being patient, recognizing what you’re dealing with,” including post-traumatic stress. – 2/24/2023

East Palestine, Ohio, will have to watch its health for years after the train wreck and chemical spill
By Umair Irfan | Vox
“‘Safe’ is one of those four-letter words in a disaster response you just don’t use,” said Stan Meiburg, executive director of the Center for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability at Wake Forest University and a former career EPA official who worked on toxic waste cleanup. “What people consider ‘safe’ is highly variable…plus, the EPA just can’t answer that question.” – 2/25/2023

$3 million NIH grant funds new study on how dance can promote cognitive health
By Emily Henderson | News Medical
The grant funds a new study called IGROOVE that will help researchers determine what kinds of dance, the frequency of the dance classes and what aspects of the dance class – music, social interaction, cognitive challenge – affect fitness, memory and brain health. The research will be co-led by Christina E. Hugenschmidt, Ph.D., associate professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and Christina T. Soriano, M.F.A., dance professor and vice provost of the arts and interdisciplinary initiatives at Wake Forest University. – 2/23/2023

France seeks EU okay to fund biomass plants, burn Amazon forest to power Spaceport
By Justin Catanoso | Mongabay
As the European Union finalizes its third Renewable Energy Directive (REDIII), France is seeking an exemption to enable the European Space Agency and French Space Agency to build and operate two biomass power plants in French Guiana. Journalism professor Justin Catanoso is a regular contributor to Mongabay. – 2/23/2023

Joanna Lowell: On deception in historical romance
By Robert Brewer | Writer’s Digest
Author Joanna Lowell discusses the process of writing her new historical romance novel, “Artfully Yours.” The book is part of a series that explores the Victorian art world. Lowell teaches in the English department at Wake Forest University. – 2/24/2023

REGIONAL & TRADE

What’s the best way to establish a mentor-mentee relationship? Local businesswomen weigh in
By Carl Wilson | Triad Business Journal
Even as most individuals would likely acknowledge the value of having a mentor, many don’t have such relationships in their professional lives. Why? They’re not sure how to set those wheels in motion. In this Q&A, Lily Harper, executive director, Wake Forest University Center for Private Business, joins others in sharing mentoring expertise. – 2/23/2023

Student-curated art exhibit from 1969 visits Wake Forest
By Laura Browne, John Trump | Restoration News Media
The Wake Forest Historical Museum will feature a selection of works from Wake Forest University’s Mark H. Reece Collection of Student-Acquired Contemporary Art until June 2023. Since 1963, Wake Forest University’s Mark H. Reece Collection remains a student-curated exhibit. – 2/23/2023

LOCAL

Controversial bill to require North Carolina sheriffs to cooperate with ICE clears committee
By Richard Craver | Winston-Salem Journal
HB10 is one of several bills where similar versions passed the General Assembly last session, but couldn’t survive a gubernatorial veto, said state legislature expert and politics professor John Dinan. “We don’t yet have a sense of whether Governor Cooper will be able to keep the support of all House Democratic legislators on these and other bills. In some cases Democratic legislators may feel cross-pressured to support the bill, but also to support the governor’s veto.” – 2/22/2023

RiverRun presents free screening of award-winning Holocaust drama
By Mark Burger | Yes! Weekly
The RiverRun International Film Festival will present a free screening of “Remember This” at 7 p.m. on March 2 at Marketplace Cinemas. A panel discussion will follow the screening featuring Barry Trachtenberg, the Rubin Presidential Chair of Jewish History at Wake Forest University, where he teaches classes on the Nazi Holocaust and Jewish responses to it, as well as classes on the history of Zionism, American Jewry, and other topics related to the modern Jewish past. – 2/22/2023

Medical marijuana bill advances in NC Senate after significant changes
By Richard Craver | Winston-Salem Journal
Potential opposition from House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, and House majority leader John Bell IV, R-Johnston, could derail the vote during the current session, said politics professor John Dinan. “At this point, we have to rely on the comments of Moore and Bell, who have cast significant doubt on plans to consider medical marijuana legalization.” – 2/21/2023

Community Milestones
Winston-Salem Journal
Wake Forest University and Wake Forest University School of Medicine will receive $3 million over five years from the National Institutes of Health to help researchers take the next steps in nearly a decade of research that indicates dance can promote cognitive health. Adults age 65 and older who are interested in joining the new study are encouraged to call 336-713-6683 or email igroove@wakehealth.edu. – 2/26/2023

WAKE FOREST NEWS

WFU students explore redlining, art and local history
By Keri Brown | Wake Forest News
Wake Forest University is hosting a national exhibit that takes a deep look at how government policies and social issues shaped the physical layout of some communities across the country, including Winston-Salem. “Undesign the Redline” explores the history of racism and inequality. The traveling exhibit focuses on federal “redlining” maps drawn in the 1930s and how these practices impacted economic development and housing segregation in predominantly minority neighborhoods. – 2/24/2023