WFU in the news: May 6-12, 2024

FEATURED NEWS

Why some people receiving federal benefits don’t consider themselves poor
By Sherri Lawson Clark | The Conversation
Cultural anthropology professor Sherri Lawson Clark’s research takes her into the homes and neighborhoods of people living in poverty in cities and rural communities throughout the U.S. “To better understand their day-to-day lives, I also have spent time in grocery stores, churches, nightclubs, parks and health clinics. I’ve asked countless questions…But of all the answers, none has perplexed me more than the one I receive when I ask, ‘Are you poor?’ Not one has ever answered yes,” she writes. – 5/09/2024

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

Best & worst entry-level jobs in 2024
By John Kiernan | WalletHub
Mercy Eyadiel, assistant vice president and chief corporate engagement officer, answers questions on job trends this year. “Jobs that are most at risk are in manufacturing, data entry, customer service, retail, and manual labor due to the accelerated and disruptive changes brought about by AI and technology. However, new jobs will be created in fields like renewable energy, AI and machine learning, digital healthcare, and cybersecurity,” she said. – 5/06/2024

Should you let AI manage your retirement plan?
By Brian O’Connell, Susannah Snider, Tracy Stewart, Rachel Hartman | U.S. News & World Report
“Money can be a very emotional subject, and many financial decisions are not made in a spreadsheet,” said Mark Johnson, an investments and portfolio management fellow and professor at Wake Forest University School of Business. “AI can help make more objective financial decisions, but technology will not be able to apply a one-size-fits-all approach to financial planning because one-size-fits-all ends up fitting no one just right.” – 5/05/2024

N.C. comedian brings representation to the stage
By Sydney McCoy | Spectrum News NY1
Psychology professor E.J. Masicampo knew he was destined to be in front of a crowd. He said that growing up he thought he would be the new Magic Johnson. Instead, he has found an audience in the classroom, as an associate professor of psychology at Wake Forest University, and at comedy venues, where he does standup. – 5/12/2024

McDonald’s may consider $5 value meal as food prices continue to soar
By Kelly McCarthy | ABC News
Marketing professor Roger Beahm told ABC News that much has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic. “Before the pandemic, consumers tended to shop primarily at one grocery store — the pandemic was very disruptive,” he said. “Consumers couldn’t get a lot of the products that they wanted at one particular store. So they actually started shopping in more retail grocery stores.” – 5/13/2024

Wake Forest junior awarded prestigious Pulitzer Fellowship
By Keri Brown | Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
The Pulitzer Center has selected Melina Traiforos, a third-year English major and journalism and marketing communications minor, as Wake Forest’s 2024 Reporting Fellow. Traiforos will receive a $3,000 stipend to report on Black maternal health disparities and inequalities low-income women face in the health care system. – 5/09/2024

Understanding how protein can help you lose weight
USTimeToday
“Your body is constantly turning over these tissues,” said health and exercise science professor Kristen M. Beavers, Ph.D. The turnover rate fluctuates throughout your life. Early on, you gain more muscle mass than you lose. Once you reach your 30s and 40s, you’ll break even. After that, there is a loss of around 1 to 2% per year, she added. – 5/12/2024

Best Business Credit Cards in 2024
By Kim Porter | Moneygeek
Business professor Ajay Patel answers questions on which small businesses most benefit from using a credit card and how business owners can appropriately use their credit cards to build credit and stay out of debt. – 4/22/2024

REGIONAL & TRADE

A confluence of food hardship, poverty and housing shortens lifespans in Winston-Salem
By Claire O’Brien, Natasha Heisenberg | NC Newsline
This story is part of a series on food insecurity and possible solutions in Forsyth County, reported, written and photographed by Wake Forest University journalism students and was part of a semester-long class taught by Newsline Environmental Investigative Reporter and Assistant Editor Lisa Sorg. – 5/07/2024

Another story in the series, “There are 21 food deserts in Winston-Salem, a legacy of racist redlining that persists today,” was written by Wake Forest student Hope Zhu. – 5/07/2024

LOCAL

Senior Services Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness has something for everyone
By Lanie Pope | WXII-TV (Winston Salem, NC)
“I believe we come into this world dancing, and there’s no reason we shouldn’t go on dancing throughout the lifespan,” dance professor Christina Soriano tells Chief Meteorologist Lanie Pope in WXII’s series on the Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness in Winston-Salem. Soriano’s class is designed for those with or caring for persons with Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease. Music adjunct faculty member John Beck is also featured in this piece for his community drumming classes. – 5/10/2024

A former student at Central Davidson High and his parents are suing the Davidson County School
By John Hinton | Winston-Salem Journal
A 16-year-old former student at Central Davidson High School in Lexington and his parents are suing Davidson County school officials for suspending him for three days in April. Law professor J. Wilson Parker said that rulings in three cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court “have been extremely deferential to school claims of needing to maintain discipline” while recognizing students’ constitutional rights. – 5/12/2024

Trevor Noah brings laughs, humanity to F2F series
By Chanel Davis | Yes! Weekly
Wake Forest University closed out its Season Three Face to Face Speaker Forum on April 30 with a sold-out crowd hanging on to every word that award-winning comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, television host, and author Trevor Noah had to say. – 5/08/2024

WAKE FOREST NEWS

Wake Forest Scholars Program spring scholarships roundup
By Communications and External Relations | Wake Forest News
Two seniors have been selected for the postbaccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award offered by the National Institutes of Health (NIH IRTA). Tahjanee Givens, a Stamps Scholar from Fuquay Varina, North Carolina, is majoring in psychology, and politics and international affairs. Eric Wang, a Reynolds Scholar from Cary, North Carolina, is a biology major. As part of this funded postbaccalaureate program, Givens and Wang will undertake research full-time with the NIH. – 5/08/2024