Fans of Thomas Friedman, listen up
Posted on February 9, 2010 at 12:54 am by Caroline
If you have not registered in advance, you have one day left to do so!
Renowned columnist and author Thomas L. Friedman will be joining the university’s two-day conference addressing our country’s increasing problems with energy. Not only will Friedman deliver the keynote address, but also the conference, “Energizing the Future: Technology, Policy and Entrepreneurship,” will bring plenty of leaders in the business, research, academic and entrepreneurial world to provide their insights on the energy crisis and how it can be resolved.
According to the press release, the idea for this conference derived from a seminar on energy policy that Professor Jim Curran, chair of biology, taught several years ago that he is teaching again this semester.
Featured speakers include Duke Energy CEO James Rogers, Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon and Steven Burke, president of the North Carolina Biofuels Center. The conference will also feature video remarks from U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu.
The conference will begin Wednesday, Feb. 10, and will continue through Thursday, Feb. 11. Friedman, a participant in the university’s “Voices of our Time” lecture series, will deliver his speech on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in Wait Chapel. Check the press release and/or the conference Web site for the complete schedule of events and speakers.
Thomas L. Friedman, famed columnist and author, will be delivering the keynote address for the university's "Energizing the Future: Technology, Policy and Entrepreneurship."
This post currently has no responses. | Leave a comment
Wonder why we didn’t get a “snow day”?
Posted on February 4, 2010 at 3:57 am by Caroline
In acknowledgment of the many heated comments from students over the past few days in response to our 10 a.m. delay as opposed to a full “snow day” on Monday, here’s what I found out.
Beginning with the entire process that goes into these calls, according to Kerry King, news director of the office of communications and external relations, Regina Lawson, chief of police, and officers from the university police department start by assessing the Winston-Salem area’s road conditions.
Through monitoring traffic advisories and communicating with county authorities in the city, the university police department focus on the external conditions. While doing so, Jim Alty, associate vice president for facilities and campus services, and campus facilities assess the internal conditions of the campus itself.
“Alty and his staff assess campus roads and determine how long it will take to clear roads, parking lots and sidewalks, to make it safe to drive and walk on campus,” King said.
Once an estimate is established, facilities report to Provost Jill Tiefenthaler and Matt Cullinan, vice president for administration, who make the final decision. Once a verdict has been conducted, it is announced by 6 a.m. through campus voice mail and e-mail and is displayed on the university’s Web site and local news channels.
Now, that’s just the whole communication process. So, why didn’t we get the day off to play in the snow?
According to Alty, the difference between us and other schools like Salem College and Winston-Salem State University that did have classes cancelled is the result of our internal roads being in better condition than theirs.
“Their interior roads were not cleared, like sidewalks and parking lots for example, but over the weekend we (took care of that here),” Alty said. “We cleared the sidewalks and roads on campus as best as possible, so we weren’t hamstrung by a bunch of roads that weren’t clear.”
Because of students’ cars being parked on campus, there were plenty of areas that could not be plowed in full.
“For the most part, though, it was manageable to get around campus. Because of that, our recommendation was to go in on a delay and we felt that was a good decision,” Alty said.
In response to the stories that have been circulating around campus concerning student injuries and potential car accidents as a result of the ice on and around campus, Alty said that the only reports the university currently have accumlated over the weekend, not on Monday.
As of now, only three students were injured during the weekend, and they were not caused by car accident. On Friday, one girl sprained her ankle from slipping and falling on the ice; on Saturday, one girl slipped and broke her wrist and one girl got into a sledding accident and required stitches as a result.
Alty also said that if any other injuries occurred over the weekend or, particularly, since Monday, they were not reported to student health or the university.
So, there you have it. Because the roads around campus were in manageable condition, the campus itself was cleared (for the most part) and people were not dying on the way to school, the university provided us with the delay instead of a full cancellation.
“We’re very concerned about the safety of students, faculty and staff and we would never want to put anybody in any form of danger,” Alty said. “We felt the decision we made was a wise one.”
Perhaps this weekend’s snow storm will stick around into next week making up for this past one. Nonetheless, use caution while driving, if you plan to do so, and watch out for ice when walking.
This post currently has 4 responses. | Leave a comment
Creative writing with creative writers
Posted on February 1, 2010 at 8:00 pm by Caroline
The university’s literary magazine, 3 to 4 Ounces, will begin hosting creative writing workshops on Wednesday nights from 7:30-9 p.m. starting this Wednesday, Feb. 3, in Benson 503. According to Elliot Isaac, co-editor-in-chief, the workshops are primarily student-run and prompts will be provided by 3 to 4 Ounces. Sufficient time to write will also be provided.
Sharing what you have written is not by any means required, but, according to Isaac, it’s always fun and interesting. The workshops are also not solely limited to English majors and minors.
“I’m personally an Economics major and am not even on the English listerv,” Isaac said.
So, if you’re interested in creative writing, whether it be your specialty or something you feel like branching out into, sounds like this is the right group of people to be spending some time with.
Creative writing can appeal to all sorts of thinkers and be written in endless amounts of ways.
This post currently has no responses. | Leave a comment
The iPad: Kotex’s new worst enemy
Posted on February 1, 2010 at 2:38 pm by Caroline
Last week, Apple released one of the oddest sounding gadgets to come out for quite some time: the iPad. What appears to be a giant iPod with a computer-like screen is actually supposed to be a cross between a laptop and a smartphone that can replace laptops all together. Though with lots of interesting features, the complaints about the iPad seem to outweigh the anticipation that was built up to its Jan. 27 release.
According to the release seminar hosted by Apple Inc., CEO Steve Jobs, the iPad is a “dream to surf the Internet on” by being able to manipulate the Web pages you browse by the tips of your fingers. You can rotate the iPad any which way (like the iPhone or iTouch) and the page you are looking at will turn in the desired direction.
“You can hold the Internet right in your hands,” Jobs said.
Along with other laptop/smartphone qualities, it’s quite thin (half an inch thick), weighs 1.5 pounds and has a 9.7 multi-touch screen that is powered by an Apple microchip known as A4 (closely resembling the iTouch). It also has grouped photo galleries for the user to store his or her’s photos in, access to Google maps (but only if iPad 3G or Wi-Fi are available), a calendar, iTunes and access to the iTunes store, access to iBooks (putting Amazon’s Kindle in direct competition), HD video viewing and, of course, access to all 140,000 applications from the App store.
“It’s so much more intimate than a laptop or a smartphone,” Jobs said.
Almost immediately upon the gadget’s release, though, criticisms about the iPad were released beginning with the name. You may have heard many of the feminine hygiene related jokes by now, but this was a personal favorite: iPad. Like a tampon. Only more expensive.
In addition to the interesting choice of name, one cannot multi task on the iPad, at all. For example, if one wants to have AIM open while sending an e-mail, that’s not going to happen. If one wants to have Twitter open while listening to Pandora, that’s not going to happen either. It also does not make phone calls (though that would be fairly awkward looking), no camera access, awkward keyboard access, no HDMI Out access (in order to hook up a video from your iPad to your television) and no Flash software.
Furthermore, in order to to hook up your digital camera or any type of USB access, you have to use an adapter. It also doesn’t support widescreen viewing or T-mobile 3G (but you can purchase a $30 monthly unlimited data plan through AT&T).
The price of this “revolutionary” product starts at $499, and that’s the basic model with only a Wi-Fi wireless connection. Is it worth it, though? Sounds to me like people need to wait until Apple makes a few more updates. Maybe it will come with wings?
This post currently has one response. | Leave a comment
“No one should go broke because they chose to go to college,” Obama says.
Posted on February 1, 2010 at 11:49 am by Rob
In the State of The Union address last Wednesday, President Obama made some interesting and ambitious proposals. Of interest to the Campus Wire was his claim that “In the United States of America, no one should go broke because they chose to go to college.”
This claim was in reference to a new plan, announced last Monday by the White House that is intended to make it easier for college grads to pay off college loans. The proposal would limit student loan payments to 10% of the grad’s income. In other words, the plan would make it unlawful for the federal government to charge graduates more money than 10% of what they make. This proposal is, of course, not intended for graduates of all income ranges, but the exact numbers are not fully realized as of now.
Additionally, all debt will be forgiven after 20 years or after 10 years if the graduate pursues a career in public service. Translation: We need teachers!
You can read more about Obama’s plan and its financial logistics at the New York Times.
This post currently has no responses. | Leave a comment
If you’re interested in college rankings…
Posted on January 31, 2010 at 3:48 pm by Rob
I know college rankings aren’t everything and often aren’t a meaningful measure of education quality, but occasionally there’s nothing wrong in seeing what they have to say. The Princeton Review has released their 2010 list of Best Value Colleges. Our Dear Ole’ WF is…drum roll…not on the 100 school list. Surprised? Probably not. Here are the top 10 lists for private and public schools. Oh and by the way, Duke did make the Top 100 list. And so did Davidson. Just sayin…
PRIVATE
1. Swarthmore College (Swarthmore, Pa.)
2. Harvard College (Cambridge, Mass.)
3. Wesleyan College (Macon, Ga.)
4. Princeton University (Princeton, N.J.)
5. Yale University (New Haven, Conn.)
6. Williams College (Williamstown, Mass.)
7. Rice University (Houston, Texas)
8. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Mass.)
9. Amherst College (Amherst, Mass.)
10. Wellesley College (Wellesley, Mass.)
PUBLIC
1. University of Virginia (Charlottesville)
2. City University of New York – Hunter College (New York, N.Y.)
3. New College of Florida (Sarasota)
4. Florida State University (Tallahassee)
5. University of Colorado-Boulder
6. State University of New York-Binghamton
7. University of Georgia (Athens)
8. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Blacksburg)
9. Texas A&M University (College Station)
10. University of Oklahoma (Norman)
This post currently has no responses. | Leave a comment
SEC posts ban against court storming
Posted on January 27, 2010 at 2:05 pm by Rob
Remember this? January 28, 2009. #4 Wake upsets #1 Duke on a last second bucket by James Johnson.
It was a special night in the Joel, and the student body celebrated by storming the court. To be sure every victory over Coach K’s team should be treasured, but Wake received some criticism for storming the court that night. It was a big night for the young Wake team, but we were ranked #4 in the country so it wasn’t exactly a huge upset. Same goes for the home victory over a certain 2009 NCAA Championship team from Chapel Hill which resulted in court storming.
Court storming has become so widespread in college basketball that seemingly every night there are highlights on SportsCenter of some student body rushing their home court. Well, the Southeastern Conference has decided to take a stand against the tradition.
On Tuesday night, unranked South Carolina upset #1 undefeated Kentucky and, no surprise, flooded the court after the buzzer. Seeing as Kentucky is a National Championship contender and South Carolina is, well…not, this victory seems to be worthy of the tradition.
South Carolina was fined a whopping $25,000 for their students’ actions by the SEC for what they call the “inability to control fans.” SEC Commissioner Mike Slive claims that the policy is meant to maintain safety for players and fans. I guess that’s legit, but it seems there are larger issues for college basketball to work out regarding player safety (Aminu gun incident, anyone?).
Anyway, the bigger issue here is whether the SEC’s position will translate to our ACC anytime soon. Everyone loves a good court storm even it if isn’t warranted by some standards. It remains to be seen if other conferences will follow suit on this prosecution of enthusiastic fan bases. Be forewarned.
What are your thoughts on court storming? Does Wake rush the hardwood too often? Debate, debate!
This post currently has no responses. | Leave a comment
Tattoo much?
Posted on January 27, 2010 at 11:20 am by Caroline
Interested in tattoos? Have a few yourself (and maybe keeping them from mom and dad)? Looking for inspiration to get a tattoo?
If so, tomorrow night, Thursday, Jan. 28, at 7 p.m. in the Museum of Anthropology, C. W. Eldridge, the proprietor of the Tattoo Archive of Downtown Winston-Salem, will provide students, faculty and staff with a lecture on tattoos and their historic origins in America and around the world. Free admission.
This post currently has no responses. | Leave a comment
Amusing Wake Links
Posted on January 21, 2010 at 10:34 pm by Rob
In an admirable attempt to become more involved with the student body, President Nathan Hatch is now a Facebook member. He doesn’t just have a profile like us regular folk; no, he has his own fan page. As of January 21, 2010, our bodacious leader has 435 fans.
Recent posts include a prayer for Haiti, a holiday greeting, and a reflection upon the year 2009. He also granted us some advice for the new academic term. Well, actually, he posted a New York Times link containing advice for starting the new semester.
My favorite excerpt: “Fall in love! Not with that attractive person sitting three rows in front of you in calculus class, but with an intellectual vision of the future you probably can’t even imagine at the moment.”
In case you haven’t heard, annual Pledge Night is this weekend. Urban Dictionary provides a comical explanation of the event and its firmly established role in Wake student life.
Will there be another outcry of objection to the tradition following this year’s “ceremony?” Probably. Will the objections actually change anything? Probably not.
BREAKING NEWS. Renowned filmmaker Spike Lee will headline this year’s Reynolda Film Festival. The Hollywood producer, director, and writer will speak in Wait Chapel on March 26 (I know that’s a long time away, but its Spike Lee! And, yes, I’ll remind you later). Tickets are already on sale on the festival’s website (link above).
Lee will present his new film Spike Lee: Following Your Dreams. He is known for his films Malcom X, that flop two years ago The Miracle at St. Anna, Jungle Fever, and Inside Man–one of my favorite thrillers ever.
I’ve also heard he has a thing with Michael Jordan.
This post currently has no responses. | Leave a comment
WakeStudent.com is getting a makeover
Posted on December 8, 2009 at 11:13 pm by Caroline
With a new year on its way, the university’s student homepage, WakeStudent.com or “the Student,” is set to have a new look at the start of next semester. Though the webpage itself already includes restaurant reviews, national and local headlines, an events calendar, sports coverage and a myriad of helpful links, turning over a new leaf can be a nice thing.
“We’re all very excited about the new site redesign,” said Gretchen Edwards, the editor in chief of WakeStudent.com. ”Everyone involved with the magazine feels that the university student body will appreciate the changes we’ve made.”
Some new features that the Web site will include are video capabilities, a university campus and student photo gallery and a Life and Health section. The Web site will also be Google Chrome compatible and provide greater opportunities for advertising.
In order to help promote the Web site’s face lift, the students making this happen will throw a launch party at Shorty’s that will hopefully include an open mic night and beer specials, too.
Sounds to me like a little change won’t hurt anybody.
Our university homepage will be ready to release its new look at the start of next semester.
Caroline Edgeton, junior English major from Winston-Salem, NC. 