Wake in the News

Wake Forest in the News (Jan. 2018 publication)

January 1, 2018   |  wfu_news_&_communications

WFU engineering students test their creativity with cardboard

December 18, 2017   |  Winston-Salem Journal

There are few things as simple and commonplace as a chair — unless Wake Forest University’s budding engineers have anything to say about it. The 55 engineering students put their creativity to the test, reimagining and revolutionizing the idea of a “chair” as part of their final project.

“Instead of just teaching lectures on theory, we’ve made the curriculum project-based,” Pierrakos said. “Our goal is to produce internship-ready engineering students by year one who can go out there and contribute.”

“I thought as a freshman I’d be doing general classes, but with engineering I’ve hit the ground running,” freshman John Hobson said.

More than 20 states in 2017 considered laws to promote shared custody of children after divorce

December 11, 2017   |  The Washington Post

Lawmakers are accelerating the trend toward co-parenting, with legislatures in more than 20 states considering bills this year that would encourage shared parenting or make it a legal presumption – even when parents disagree. “The custody laws in our country were based on the sexist belief that mothers are better than fathers at raising children.…Well, the research does not support that.” said Linda Nielsen, a professor of adolescent and educational psychology at Wake Forest.

See also: Chicago Tribune

U.S. universities pledge to increase intake of low-income students

December 13, 2017   |  The Times Higher Education

Wake Forest is one of six U.S. institutions to announce public commitments through the American Talent Initiative to increase enrollment and support for moderate- and low-income students. The University set goals to increase the number of Pell Grant applicants by 50 percent, the number of enrolled Pell Grant students by 40 percent, the number of need-based aid recipients by 25 percent and graduation rates of Pell Grant students by 12.5 percent.

See also: Diverse Issues in Higher Education

College grads aren't just going to the coasts

December 14, 2017   |  bloomberg

The percentage of the population 25 and older with college degrees is an imperfect but quite useful indicator of an area’s affluence and potential for income growth. Having a college apparently isn’t always enough to make your area a magnet for college grads. Knoxville and Winston-Salem are home to major universities and are centers of metropolitan areas of more than 600,000 people, but are not attracting college grads as much as some other smaller metros. Most small cities will probably continue to struggle as economic activity shifts to big metro areas.

Media Report for Dec. 9-18, 2017

December 19, 2017   |  wfu_news_&_communications

The Wake Forest News Media Report for Dec. 9-18, 2017 is now available online.

How the bot stole Christmas: Toys like Fingerlings are snapped up and resold

December 6, 2017   |  The New York Times

The proliferation of online shopping makes it tough to purchase coveted items because of software that snaps them up as soon as they are offered for sale. “When an advertised item is unavailable because of out-of-stocks, customers don’t blame bots, they blame the retailer,” said Roger Beahm, a professor of marketing at the Wake Forest University School of Business.

See Also: Seattle Times, Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Kansas City Business Journal

Why the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital by the United States is so controversial

December 5, 2017   |  BBC Brasil

Israel considers Jerusalem its eternal and indivisible capital, but Palestinians claim part of the city as the capital of their future state. Barry Trachtenberg, director of the Jewish Studies Program at Wake Forest University, points out that the U.S. in all previous governments has allowed Israel to continue building settlements in disputed territory. “The United States has never taken strong measures (to prevent construction), so Trump is perhaps the most honest about it, about the fact that the U.S. is actually partial rather than neutral,” he said.

To lose more fat than muscle, try lifting weights

December 5, 2017   |  herald-tribune

Training with weights could be more effective than a walking program, according to a new study in Obesity by researchers at Wake Forest University. “Walking is excellent exercise,” said Kristen M. Beavers, an assistant professor of health and exercise science and the study’s lead author. “But it might not prompt older people’s bodies to hold on to muscle as effectively as weight training.”

Mapping the forests of the future: Drones aid with Amazon restoration

December 6, 2017   |  Unmanned Aerial

A small group of Wake Forest University students visited the Amazon of Peru and flew a drone over the Reforestation Center for the first time ever. The images captured were incredible. It was a breathtaking view of the trees above. It was also amazing to see how clearly the mixed agroforestry systems the Reforestation Center team planted resemble the wild forest.