September 14, 2016 | WFU News & Communications
The Wake Forest News Media Report for Sept. 2-9 is now available online.
September 6, 2016 | The Washington Post
Forcing college kids to ignore the liberal arts won’t help them in a competitive economy. Parents are becoming more deeply engaged in nearly every aspect of their children’s lives, and it’s carrying over even to their choice of major.
“A lot of our students feel parental pressure to go into business, economics, medicine,” says Christy Buchanan, who heads the office of academic advising at Wake Forest, a traditional liberal arts college that recently announced new programs in biomedical sciences and engineering.
In today’s fast-changing global economy, the most successful enterprises aren’t looking for workers who know a lot about only one thing. They are seeking employees who are nimble, curious and innovative … The good jobs of the future will go to those who can collaborate widely, think broadly and challenge conventional wisdom – precisely the capacities that a liberal arts education is meant to develop.
“What we are constantly reminding parents is that the world is an incredibly dynamic place and what’s most important is for students to develop an entrepreneurial mind-set,” said Andy Chan, vice president of personal and career development at Wake Forest. “They need to think not just about the first job but a lifetime of jobs.”
September 6, 2016 | Smithsonian
Black Twitter, as some call it, is not an actual place walled off from the rest of social media and is not a monolith; rather, it’s a constellation of loosely formed multifaceted communities created spontaneously by and for black Twitter users who follow or promote black culture. African-Americans use Twitter in higher concentrations than white Americans, according to the Pew Research Center on American Life, which found in 2014 that 22 percent of online African-Americans used Twitter, compared with 16 percent of online whites.
But there’s more, much more, to black Twitter than social justice activism. It’s also a raucous place to follow along with “Scandal,” have intellectual debates about Beyoncé’s latest video or share jokes.
“These were conversations that we were having with each other, over the phone or in the living room or at the bar,” said Sherri Williams, a communication professor at Wake Forest who has studied the impact of black Twitter. “Now we’re having those conversations out in the open on Twitter where other people can see them.”
September 6, 2016 | The Washington Post
Watching your kid sweat over college applications? Wondering which college is the best fit for your child and how to help them make that happen? We asked dozens of admissions officers to reveal the truth about admissions today.
Martha Blevins Allman, Wake Forest dean of admissions: “Concentrate not on being the best candidate, but on being the best person. Pay attention to what is going on in the world around you. If you do those things, not only will the world be a better place because you’re in it, your greatest admissions worry will be choosing which college to pick from. I look for beautiful, clear writing that comes to life on the essay page and offers insight into the character and personality of the student. Beware of being someone you are not in the essay. Beware of outside influence. Editing by adults or professionals often removes the very elements that admissions officer seek.”
College Insurrection also ran this story.
September 6, 2016 | Forbes
Food prices are down. Consumers love it, but restaurants and grocers are less enthused. More money in your pocket means less in theirs. (It’s nothing personal, just business.) But that said, there may be some good to come out of food deflation — even for the people selling the food.
In any case, even if the price of food is down, the value of time is not, says Kenny Herbst, an associate professor of marketing at Wake Forest School of Business. “A quick stop at a restaurant to take out food not only saves time spent prepping food but also time spent cleaning up. So, the value of time is a significant consideration here,” Herbst says.
September 6, 2016 | WFU News & Communications
The Wake Forest News Media Report for Aug. 27 – Sept. 2 is now available online.
August 29, 2016 | WXII
The University says 1300 first-year students are packing into residence halls today. That’s the largest first-year class for the school. The class of 2020 includes students from 45 states and 24 countries. Move-in day video highlights and photo gallery are available.
“It really is probably the biggest day of the year, besides commencement,” said Donna McGalliard, dean of residence life and housing. “This is the beginning of four years of total immersion into the college experience.”
WGHP and The Winston-Salem Journal also covered the event.
August 29, 2016 | CBS News
Psychologists have long thought that people tend to underestimate the odds of something bad happening to them and overestimate the chances of good things happening to them. Now a new study suggests this view may not be accurate.
The studies that have suggested that people tend to be inherently optimistic may have had flawed methods of measuring this so-called “optimism bias,” the researchers said.
John Petrocelli, a psychologist at Wake Forest, who was not involved in the study, said he was also skeptical about the researchers’ claims. “I don’t agree with their broader conclusion that the unrealistic optimism bias doesn’t exist,” he said. “Social psychology is full of examples of people being overly optimistic.”
Live Science, FOX News, WCSI, WGMD, RocketNews, also covered this story.
August 29, 2016 | Associated Press
The National Labor Relations Board ruled Tuesday that student teaching and research assistants at private universities are employees and have a right to be represented by unions. The 3-1 ruling overturns a 2004 NLRB decision that said graduate students were not employees covered by the National Labor Relations Act.
The ruling affects Salem College and Wake Forest University graduate students.
Katie Neal, Wake Forest University’s spokesperson, released this statement:
“We are reviewing the NLRB decision and its potential impact on our campus community,” she said.
The Winston-Salem Journal also covered this story.
August 29, 2016 | New York Times
Law professor Sidney Shapiro co-authored the following: “The claim that President Obama produced ‘a canon of regulations that have inserted the United States government more deeply into American life’ further ignores the fact that the most controversial rules were specifically mandated by Congress or upheld by the Supreme Court.
Yes, these rules will cost money, but they will save hundreds of thousands of lives and millions of lost days off from work and school because of illness.”
Wake Forest University’s Office of Communications and External Relations operates a fully equipped, professional television and radio studio to connect faculty members and campus newsmakers with global news media.