WFU in the news: April 10-16, 2023

FEATURED NEWS

Wake Forest makes intercollegiate debate history with ‘Triple Crown’
By Keri Brown | Wake Forest News
Wake Forest University has clinched another national debate championship. This comes on the heels of winning the prestigious National Debate Tournament last week. On Tuesday, April 11, WFU’s top two teams (juniors Iyana Trotman and Tajaih Robinson along with seniors Ana Bittner and Ari Davison) closed out the final round of the Cross Examination Debate Association national tournament. They were the last two teams standing, winning both 1st and 2nd place. – 4/13/2023

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

Anthropologist collaborates on ape evolution paradigm shift
Mirage News
At Buluk, an ancient fossil site in remote northern Kenya, Wake Forest University paleoanthropologist Ellen Miller uncovered clues about the habitats of apes living there 16 million years ago. Miller, who studies the fossil evidence for primate evolution, is part of a collaborative team of geologists and paleoanthropologists led by Baylor University professor Daniel Peppe. Their work, published in the journal Science this week, documents the earliest evidence for locally abundant C4 grasses in eastern Africa and how grasses and open habitats influenced early ape evolution. – 4/14/2023

EPA’s waste office dilemma: Deep pockets, no nominee
E&E News
Barry Breen, a longtime career official, is the office’s acting assistant administrator. EPA is fortunate to have “a well-qualified career senior executive” on board, according to Stan Meiburg, who served 39 years at the agency, including as acting deputy administrator during the Obama administration. “With Barry Breen, you have a very capable public servant,” said Meiburg, now the executive director of the Center for Energy, Environment and Sustainability at Wake Forest University. – 4/14/2023

Abortion battle playing out at the state level
By John Dinan | The Daily Record (Baltimore, MD)
The battles over abortion – who can get one, when they can get one – largely shifted from a focus on the U.S. Supreme Court back to state lawmakers and judges in June 2022. That’s when the Supreme Court ruled that there was no federal constitutional guarantee of the right to get an abortion. States, they said, should be making the rules, writes politics professor John Dinan. – 4/14/2023

Plastic pollution is a global problem – here’s how to design an effective treaty to curb it
By Sarah J. Morath | The Pioneer (Big Rapids, MI)
Plastic pollution is accumulating worldwide, on land and in the oceans. According to one widely cited estimate, by 2025, 100 million to 250 million metric tons of plastic waste could enter the ocean each year. Another study commissioned by the World Economic Forum projects that without changes to current practices, there may be more plastic by weight than fish in the ocean by 2050, writes law professor Sarah Morath. – 4/12/2023

LOCAL

Trevor Noah, Liz Cheney to speak at Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem Journal
Former “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah and former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney will be coming to Winston-Salem as part of the Face to Face series at Wake Forest University University. This season’s series starts Sept. 27 with historian Doris Kearns and journalist Michael Beschloss. Daymond John, the founder of the popular apparel brand FUBU and a host on the series “Shark Tank,” will speak Nov. 1. – 4/13/2023

Community Milestones
Winston-Salem Journal
Middle and high school students can discover opportunities for careers in statistics and data science during a free one-day event at Wake Forest University on April 22. Called Florence Nightingale Day, the event will take place from 1 to 4:30 p.m. in Manchester Hall. The goal of the program is to engage kids, promote future career opportunities and celebrate the contributions of women to these fields. – 4/15/2023

‘Long time coming’: Sears at Friendly Center closes
By Richard Craver | Winston-Salem Journal
The Sears declaration of bankruptcy by what was once America’s largest retailer “is the irony of ironies,” said marketing professor Roger Beahm. “The company that once began as a remote-order and direct-delivery business has now all but lost the battle for survival to a retail environment that is, once again, becoming remote-order and direct-delivery.” – 4/14/2023

WAKE FOREST NEWS

WFU to introduce middle and high schoolers to careers in statistics and data science
By Keri Brown | Wake Forest News
“The people who have strong quantitative abilities, I think, are really getting a seat at the table these days and often end up setting the narrative in a lot of ways, because we’re moving to such a quantitatively focused society in general,” said statistics professor D’Agostino McGowan. “So, making sure that those leaders also come from diverse perspectives is important.” According to a report, few students take statistics before college. – 4/12/2023

Students get Face to Face with Kristin Chenoweth
By Kim McGrath | Wake Forest News
What is the acting process like for Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth? “I get my character when I get the shoes the character is going to wear,” she said. At the Face to Face Speaker Forum student-led event, Leadership and Character Program scholars and seniors Ian Davis-Huie, an elementary education major, and mathematical statistics major Josh Knight led a conversation with Chenoweth in Wait Chapel. Sophomore Ellie Howell, who is studying history and theatre, joined Chenoweth on stage to sing Elphaba’s part in the song “For Good” from the musical “Wicked” at the end of the keynote event. – 4/13/2023

WFU students will build colorful, at home study spaces for local kids
By Keri Brown | Wake Forest News
Wake Forest University students will gather on Davis Field Wednesday, April 19 from 3 to 6:30 p.m. to paint desks for local elementary school children as part of an annual service project called Discovering Education through Student Knowledge or DESK. – 4/13/2023