The News & Observer
U.S.’s second withdrawal from Paris Agreement raises economic concerns in North Carolina
Stan Meiburg, executive director of the Sabin Family Center for Environment and Sustainability at Wake Forest noted that while the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement may not have an immediate impact, it signals the administration's broader intentions to deprioritize climate policy moving forward. "Not only the withdrawal but also the stated intention of the administration to roll back the Inflation Reduction Act could have very significant impacts on North Carolina's economy, in particular the tax incentives for investments in renewable energy facilities," he said.
February 14, 2025
WFDD-FM (Winston-Salem, NC)
How are Triad universities responding to new federal orders targeting DEI practices?
Wake Forest University said "officials are actively reviewing all executive orders and memos to determine potential impacts on the school’s “community, scholarship and research.”
February 14, 2025
Winston-Salem Journal
Neighborly outreach pays off in town and gown relations
Associate Vice President for Campus Life and Dean of Students Matt Clifford said the University Area Community Partnership has been around since 2000. “The group meets regularly to review the concerns and challenges regarding safety and community issues in the greater University area. We are seeing the fruits of those efforts, and I’m grateful for the collaboration of neighbors, University staff and city officials on the UACP. I applaud our students for being good neighbors and I’m excited to see those efforts recognized," he said.
February 14, 2025
Eurasia Review
Breaking the cycle of old politics in Sri Lanka
"Sri Lanka’s 2024 elections have ushered in a seismic shift, with Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna becoming president in September 2024 and the JVP-led National People’s Power alliance winning a parliamentary supermajority in November 2024. The two elections represent a political realignment, empowering a new class of elites while marginalizing long-dominant politicians, "writes politics and international affairs professor Neil DeVotta.
February 13, 2025
Science News
In a first, zebra cams reveal herds on the move with giraffes
Michael Anderson, a savanna ecologist at Wake Forest University, who was not involved in the research, said, “These ecosystems evolved as multispecies assemblages, and so protecting them requires preserving the natural relationships that sustain the ecosystems."
February 13, 2025
NPR
President Trump’s order is latest in the decades-long effort to eliminate the penny
President Trump's order is the latest in the decades-long effort to eliminate the penny. There are some 240 billion pennies in circulation, according to some estimates. And most of them are just sitting around, taking up space. "We're the culprits here. We don't value the penny enough to even bring a lot of our change back to the store," said economist Robert Whaples.
February 12, 2025
Reuters
Few mourn the US penny as Trump moves to kill it
A 2007 Wake Forest University study of a multi-state convenience store chain offered evidence that eliminating the penny would not create a rounding tax, and would not contribute to rising prices. "Losing the penny was just a wash for the consumer," said Robert Whaples, professor at Wake Forest who authored the study. "It's as much rounding up as it is down." Whaples was quoted in dozens of news outlets nationwide and in Canada, including McClatchy newspapers, CNN Business, Forbes, The Washington Post, Politico, and Fortune. He was also featured in long-form videos for The Wall Street Journal and The CBC.
February 11, 2025
Vaping Post
Do Tobacco 21 laws work? A recent study reports
A recent study led by economist Erik Nesson published in the Journal of Health Economics, has revealed a discrepancy between self-reported tobacco use and biomarker evidence among young adults aged 18-20 under Tobacco 21 laws. While survey data indicate that these young adults claim to be smoking less, the analysis of biomarkers paints a different picture, showing that traces of nicotine and tobacco persist in their systems.
February 11, 2025
Winston-Salem Journal
EPA turmoil shakes North Carolina’s climate efforts with uncertainties
“I had a class this week where an EPA employee has been coming over for the last four years to talk to my students about the process for setting ambient air quality standards — very straight up, ‘here’s the way the process works’,” said Stan Meiburg, executive director of the Sabin Family Center for Environment and Sustainability at Wake Forest. “Last week, he was told by a supervisor that he couldn’t do it.”
February 11, 2025
Yahoo
Kidneys from Black donors are more likely to be thrown away − a bioethicist explains why
Director, Center for Bioethics, Health & Society; Professor, Department of Philosophy Ana Iltis writes: "As one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., kidney disease is a serious public health problem. The disease is particularly severe among Black Americans, who are three times more likely than white Americans to develop kidney failure. While Black people constitute only 12% of the U.S. population, they account for 35% of those with kidney failure."
February 8, 2025
The Charlotte Observer
Mark Robinson drops lawsuit against CNN, says he won’t run again for office
Robinson's decision to drop his CNN lawsuit "was entirely expected, and the only question was how long after the election it would take before the lawsuit would be dropped," said politics professor John Dinan. “Robinson’s decision to drop out of politics and decline to run for the senate in 2026 is somewhat less expected. But, it is certainly understandable in light of how badly Robinson was defeated in the 2024 governor’s race and the dim prospects that he could win any future statewide general election.”
February 8, 2025
Winston-Salem Journal
Wake Forest Board of Trustees passes resolution to honor Dave Clawson and his family
While Wake Forest football fans might be looking to the future, the board of trustees is giving Dave Clawson his due. On Friday, the board passed a resolution recognizing Clawson, who resigned in December after 11 seasons. The resolution recognizes Clawson and his wife, Catherine, for their gratitude and dedication to Wake Forest.
February 8, 2025