Winston-Salem Journal
Forsyth, Guilford could share 1 state senator under NC House bill
Forsyth and Guilford counties, as well as North Carolina's other urban counties, could be represented by just one state senator if an N.C. House bill becomes law. Politics professor John Dinan said, "Every legislative session some bills are worthy of attention because they are likely to get serious consideration. Other bills stand no chance of passing, and this bill is in the latter category. There is no chance that the arrangement proposed in this bill would be deemed consistent with longstanding U.S. Supreme Court precedent, which the Court has shown no signs of revisiting."
March 16, 2025
The Conversation
When humans use AI to earn patents, who is doing the inventing?
Law professor Keith Robinson explores how the advent of generative artificial intelligence has sent shock waves across industries, from the technical to the creative. AI systems that can generate viable computer code, write news stories and spin up professional-looking graphics have inspired countless headlines asking whether they will take away jobs in technology, journalism and design, among many other fields. These new ways of doing work and making things raise another question: In the era of AI, what does it mean to be an inventor?
The article has appeared in several outlets nationwide, including SFgate.com, Yahoo, Bioethics.com and the Albany Times Union.
March 14, 2025
WUNC-FM (Chapel Hill, NC)
Recusal issue looms over disputed state Supreme Court race
Jefferson Griffin has appealed a trial court's dismissal of his bid to invalidate thousands of ballots in his race for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court. Judge Murry's contribution to Griffin's legal expense fund falls into a gray area, according to law professor Ellen Murphy, an expert on legal ethics and professional responsibility. "A judge should conduct himself/herself at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary. In my opinion it is clear," Murphy said, "that, objectively, one's impartiality can be reasonably questioned in a case like this."
March 14, 2025
The News & Observer
2 NC colleges ranked among the ‘most beautiful’ in the US. Is your alma mater on the list?
Two of North Carolina's most prestigious universities have been named one of the most beautiful across the country. From the east coast to the west, Condé Nast Traveler released a list of 54 schools that could be considered some of "America's most magnificent architectural masterpieces" - including Duke University in Durham and Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem.
March 14, 2025
Washington Examiner
Pennies, an early Trump second term target, rival marbles and 8-track players as American artifacts
“Not many Canadians rue the loss of their penny,” economics professor Robert Whaples said. “The president has the leeway to make decisions about coins being minted, i.e., how many of each penny, nickel, or what have you. But he doesn’t have the power to say the penny can no longer be considered a valid form of money; that’s for the legislature.”
March 13, 2025
KRGV-TV (Weslaco, TX) via Ivanhoe Newswire
Prescription Health: Less muscle, higher risk of dementia?
Losing strength doesn’t only make older adults more prone to falls and fractures. So, what can you do to help save your muscles? Health and exercise science researcher Kristen Beavers recommends “about 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a week, and at least two days of weightlifting activities that strengthen muscles. "Thinking about exercise as a countermeasure to muscle and bone loss as an older adult loses weight, I think is very important."
March 13, 2025
Fast Company
Why the Carolinas have seen months of extreme weather whiplash
Engineering professor Lauren Lowman studies wildfires and drought in the Southeast. Scores of wildfires broke out across North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia in early March 2025 as strong winds, abnormally dry conditions and low humidity combined to kindle and spread the flames. The fires followed a year of weather whiplash in the Carolinas, from a flash drought over the summer to extreme hurricane flooding in September, and then back to drought again. Storms on March 5, 2025, helped douse many of the fires still burning, but the Southeast fire season is only beginning.
The article originally appeared in The Conversation.
March 12, 2025
Yahoo Finance
No employer plan? Here’s how to save for retirement on your own
“In today’s market, expense ratios under 0.10% (10 basis points) are considered low,” Mark Johnson, an investments and portfolio management professor at Wake Forest, said.
March 11, 2025
Quartz
What are the best fast food value meals right now?
“Value meals benefit the restaurants that offer them. First and foremost, they help maintain customer traffic at a time when economic pressures would normally depress sales,” said Roger Beahm, executive director of the Center for Retail Innovation. "They also allow a restaurant chain to keep its name top-of-mind. Promoting a value meal option in its advertising and marketing communications helps the chain build greater share-of-mind among potential customers.”
March 10, 2025
WXII-TV (Winston Salem, NC)
Setting their own rules: Students and teachers react to WFU’s experimental AI policy
At Wake Forest University, their artificial intelligence policy is to let professors choose their own approach, for now. The university says it's to get a "better understanding" of these digital tools and all the ways they can be used by faculty and students. "My mantra to my students is to use AI to stretch your capabilities, not just shrink your effort," said business professor Shannon McKeen.
March 10, 2025
Winston-Salem Journal
‘Wholesale denigration:’ Former officials now in NC blast treatment of federal workers
Elon Musk and his Department of Governmental Efficiency have pushed tens of thousands of federal employees from their jobs. “It’s this whole notion that somehow to even be a public servant is to be participating in a lower class of activity,” said Stan Meiburg, who served for 39 years with the Environmental Protection Agency, the last three as deputy administrator, and now is executive director of Wake Forest University’s Andrew Sabin Family Center for Environment and Sustainability. “That’s notwithstanding the fact that the private sector does not work — it does not work — unless basic, essential government services are there.”
March 10, 2025
Arkansas Democrat Gazette
Fast fashion failing to save Forever 21
The popularity of fast fashion – widely considered unsustainable and detrimental to the environment – also has fallen drastically, taking a hit on the public perception of Forever 21. "Forever 21 was the brand that the former generation used," said marketing professor Roger Beahm, director of the Retail Learning Labs at Wake Forest University. "Today's shoppers want their own brand, they want their own identity."
March 9, 2025