WFU in the news: May 13-19, 2024

FEATURED NEWS

‘Go and do good’ – Wake Forest honors class of 2024
By Richard Craver | Winston-Salem Journal
Wake Forest University conducted Monday graduation ceremonies for its Class of 2024, the first in which undergraduates spent their entire college years living and learning under the COVID-19 pandemic’s shadow. Both Wake Forest president Susan Wente and commencement speaker Dr. Mandy Cohen urged the more than 1,226 undergraduates and nearly 800 graduate students to exit the Reynolda campus being truly intentional on living out the Pro Humanitate (For Humanity) motto. – 5/21/2024

WXII, WFDD, WRAL, WFMY, and Spectrum News also covered commencement.

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

America’s first student-acquired art collection reflects the times
By John Yau | Hyperallergic
Earlier this year, Wake Forest University celebrated the 60th year of this program — and the 16 trips that have taken place since the program’s inception — with a selection of works obtained by previous generations of students. The exhibition, Of the Times: Sixty Years of Student-Acquired Art at Wake Forest University at the Charlotte & Phillip Hanes Art Gallery, was curated by Jennifer Finkel, who also contributed to the catalog, along with Leigh Ann Hallberg and J. D. Wilson. – 5/14/2024

Big trouble in intern city
By Michael Schaffer | POLITICO
Most of the academic programs that place Washington interns steer students away from virtual internships: “Why would you come to Washington for a semester if you’re going to be working remotely two days a week or more?” said Jennifer Richwine, who runs Wake Forest University’s program in the capital. “If you’re in person, you’re learning just from osmosis of being in an office. They don’t get to do that if you’re working remotely, or if no one’s there.” –  5/17/2024

Retail traders are beating big firms
Morningstar
The earliest form of prediction markets on Wall Street took shape around 1884, with betting on the outcome of presidential elections, according to economics professor Koleman Strumpf. In more recent decades, these markets have occasionally been confronted with ethical dilemmas over the propriety of betting on geopolitical outcomes, and described by some critics as “terrorism betting parlors.” Despite the naysayers, experts said prediction markets can play a vital role in society, are reasonably efficient, and tend to perform well. – 5/15/2024

US troops’ Niger exit should spur better strategy
By William Walldorf | Stars and Stripes
“The U.S. departure from Niger is painful for the U.S. military, but also an opportunity for change. Let’s hope U.S. policymakers can seize that opportunity and move to less force-based approaches better-suited for U.S. interests and good for Africans too,” writes politics and international affairs professor William Walldorf. – 5/14/2024

Latin America advisor
By Gene Kuleta | Inter-American Dialogue
Chile’s government is considering tougher security measures and new antiterrorism laws after armed assailants killed three police officers in the country’s Biobío region. “Chile remains relatively safe – and Santiago is a far safer national capital than most in Latin America,” said politics and international affairs professor Peter Siavelis. “Government statistics show that the rise in violent crime is due mainly to criminal gang activity, often with foreign ties. These connections have prompted Chileans to view rising crime as a problem of illegal immigration.” – 5/14/2024

Krispy Kreme launches Dolly Parton-inspired doughnut flavors
By Richard Craver | Independent Tribune
Marketing professor Roger Beahm said the Parton-themed doughnuts flavors can “create an emotional connection with consumers by offering this new line of limited-edition doughnuts with a likeable persona with strong market appeal.” – 5/17/2024

Embracing 50/50 custody is best for children
By Lauren Hall | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Experts argue that with effective communication and cooperation between parents, challenges can be overcome. Linda Nielsen, a professor of adolescent and educational psychology at Wake Forest, suggests that parents can work together to create consistent routines and rules across households, providing stability for the children. – 5/18/2024

REGIONAL & TRADE

How WFU School of Medicine students are working to enhance global health, equity
Triad Business Journal
Global health refers to the practice that aims to improve health for individuals around the world in an interdisciplinary fashion. The focus of this approach is to understand emerging health challenges – driven by social, cultural, economic and environmental factors – that can contribute to health inequities. – 5/14/2024

Faster care, but higher bills
By Michelle Crouch, Tony Mecia | The Charlotte Ledger
Freestanding emergency rooms are springing up across the Charlotte region to serve patients, no hospital required. Experts said the centers are typically part of a hospital strategy to target higher income, privately insured patients and funnel them into their system instead of a competitor’s. “It’s about blanketing your market space and increasing your share of the market,” said economics professor Tina Marsh Dalton, who studies health policy. – 5/13/2024

Cracking the generation gap is no game – or is it?
By John Reitman | TurfNet
When it comes to attracting and keeping help on the golf course, the “it’s my way, or the highway” management style probably has lost much of its effectiveness — at least as it pertains to traditional seasonal employees. It’s very hierarchical,” said Amy Wallis, professor of organizational behavior and ethics in the Wake Forest’s School of Business. “There is a difference between the relationship between a superintendent and kids who are brand new to golf or college kids working over summer break and superintendents and, say, their assistants.” – 5/16/2024

LOCAL

EPA mandates PFAS reporting: What does it mean for Winston-Salem’s water quality?
By Chaewon Chung | Winston-Salem Journal
“Winston-Salem is fortunate as most of our water comes from the Yadkin River,” noted Stan Meiburg, executive director of the Sabin Family Center for Environment and Sustainability at Wake Forest University, in an interview with the Journal. “The river serves as a good water source because there are few discharges upstream from Winston Salem.” – 5/13/2024

Forsyth County DA Jim O’Neill soundly defeated in GOP runoff for lieutenant governor
By John Hinton | Winston-Salem Journal
Politics professor John Dinan said that Hal Weatherman, who graduated from Wake Forest, ran an effective statewide campaign. Weatherman “had the most active presence around the state of any other Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, both in the lead-up to the original March primary and ahead of this week’s runoff primary election.” – 5/16/2024

For 2024 college seniors, graduation will be even sweeter
By Lindsay Clein | WXII-TV (Winston Salem, NC)
“It’s going to be crazy,” said senior Ceyana Young. “I’m excited. It’s going to be so fun.” For her and other WFU seniors, the experience means more than it would for most. “To not have that experience in high school to be able to walk across the stage — it does feel like I’m about to live a movie scene,” she said. “It’s going to be a surreal experience.” – 5/17/2024

WAKE FOREST NEWS

Grads start early, embrace AI tools for job market success
By Kim McGrath | Wake Forest News
For 2024 grads, the job search requires leveraging personal development, strategic networking, and innovative tools like AI to navigate the evolving job market. A recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report found unemployment increased from 8.6% to 12.3% among 20-somethings with bachelor’s degrees between October 2022 and October 2023. Interest rates and new technologies are affecting hiring. Finding a job is more challenging than it was a year ago.
5/15/2024