WFU in the news: Jan. 22-28, 2024

FEATURED NEWS

Wake Forest University sophomore expands outreach
By Natalie Wilson | WGHP-TV (High Point, NC)
A Wake Forest sophomore has been honored for her efforts to increase student outreach on campus and in the community. Couriyah Stegall received the Community Impact Student Award by NC Campus Engagement. “You can kind of fall into that cycle where you’re doing these things and it’s just part of your daily schedule, and so you just kind of forget that you’re actually making an impact,” Stegall said. – 1/24/2024

WFU awarded $160M NSF grant to advance regenerative medicine
By Cheryl V. Walker | Wake Forest News
Wake Forest University is a recipient of one of the first-ever US. National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engine (NSF Engines) awards in partnership with educational institutions and other organizations across the region. Announced Jan. 26 during a visit by First Lady Jill Biden and NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan to Winston-Salem, the NSF Engines grant provides $15 million for the first 2 years of the project and up to $160 million for 10 years. – 1/26/2024

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

Capitalism must evolve to survive, and even Wall Street’s biggest players say the problem is clear
By Anna-Louise Jackson | Fast Company
Young people overwhelmingly favor small businesses, noted Christina Elson, the executive director of Wake Forest University’s Center for the Study of Capitalism. Larger institutions must demonstrate that they offer those same opportunities to “be a force for change,” she said. “Free enterprise and freedom are shared constructs; we just need to figure out how to make those work well for everybody.” – 1/22/2024

Louisiana civil rights case threatens EPA’s enforcement plans
By Jennifer Hijazi, Stephen Lee | Bloomberg Law: Environment
Wake Forest law professors Sidney Shapiro and John Knox, who specialize in human rights, both comment in this piece. “When litigants go to argue, they look for similar cases in similar situations,” Shapiro said. “No doubt this will be cited by other litigants in defending themselves against civil rights charges.” For that reason, Knox said environmental justice advocates on the ground should “think beyond litigation” to advance their goals. “In a lot of ways the courts are really not very friendly right now,” he said. – 1/25/2024

Considering a debt consolidation loan?
By Ajay Patel | Wallet Hub
Business professor Ajay Patel is a featured expert in this piece on the pros and cons of debt consolidation. “Make sure that you are taking out a debt consolidation loan because your primary goal is to reduce your outstanding debt as quickly and efficiently as possible without incurring too many additional costs. Make sure you understand the terms of the new loan relative to those on the existing loans you are trying to consolidate,” he said. – 1/26/2024

Electoral uncertainty casts a shadow over Sri Lanka’s progress
By Neil DeVotta | East Asia Forum
“The parliamentary elections are unlikely to result in a single party majority. The presidential poll may see no candidate win a majority in the first round, making voters’ second and third preferences crucial to an election that will determine the island’s socio-economic fortunes for years to come,” writes politics and international affairs professor Neil DeVotta. – 1/24/2024

Symphony orchestra levels up with concert inspired by ‘Legend of Zelda’
By John Lamb | The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead
Music professor Aaron Hardwick studies gaming music and its rising popularity in the symphonic world. “People are looking for diversity in programming by major symphony orchestras,” he said. “When orchestras play music from games, it can bring the listener back to the experience of being immersed in the game.” Hardwick, who is director of Wake Forest’s University Symphony Orchestra, added that symphony directors and artistic programmers are working with game publishers to bring more video game music to the stage. – 1/25/2024

‘AZAD ‘
Mirage News
AZAD, a multimedia theatrical experience written by Syrian-Armenian-American theater and film artist Sona Tatoyan, a 2000 Wake Forest graduate, in collaboration with Jared Mezzocchi, will be performed on Thursday, Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m. on the Tedford Stage in Scales Fine Arts Center. The performance is free and open to the public. AZAD is story-within-a-story-within-a-story blending Armenian and Arabic folklore with Karagöz shadow puppetry. – 1/25/2024

China’s conflict resolution and mediation approach in Mali
By Lina Benabdallah | Stimson Center
China takes a cautious approach to conflict mediation in the Sahel, where there are high political risks and lower economic/security interests, writes politics and international affairs professor Lina Benabdallah. – 1/26/2024

Draft report says charity care has declined ‘extensively’ at Mission after HCA takeover
By Andrew Jones | Asheville Watchdog
An 18-page draft report of a forthcoming study authored by Mark A. Hall, a professor of law and public health, found that “genuine charity care has diminished in systematic and extensive ways following the sale to HCA Healthcare, with unfortunate effects on access to health care in western North Carolina.” – 1/22/2024

REGIONAL & TRADE

Catawba College panel urges citizens to get informed and involved in water protection process
By Robert Sullivan | Salisbury Post
“The short version of the Sackett decision of the court, in an opinion written by Justice Alito, decided that only wetlands with a continuous surface connection to a navigable water, making it difficult to tell where the water ends and the wetlands begin, are covered by the Clean Water Act,” said Stan Meiburg, executive director of Wake Forest’s Andrew Sabin Family Center for Environment and Sustainability. – 1/25/2024

WAKE FOREST NEWS

‘Staying ConnecTED’ with TEDxWakeForestU
By Kim McGrath | Wake Forest News
Wake Forest University will host TEDxWakeForestU, an independently organized event licensed by TED, on Thursday, Feb. 8 from 5-7 p.m. in Wait Chapel. “Staying ConnecTED” aims to provide innovators and storytellers with an opportunity to share stories of disruption and fuel positive change. The event is free and open to the public. Registration is requested. – 1/25/2024