The unseen side of Wake
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W A K E
F O R E S T
VOL. 95, NO. 20
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“Covers the campus like the magnolias”
North campus set to be revamped College
Republicans attend CPAC
Construction to begin March 10, expected to be completed within two years By Paige Emerson | Staff writer
Wake Forest’s newest construction project consists of two new residence halls, in an effort to provide more housing for sophomores and juniors in upcoming years. The new buildings will be located north of Lot Q and south of Polo Residence Hall. The building site will be fenced off in late February and construction will begin during Spring Break on March 10. The buildings are being designed by HEWV (Hanbury, Evans, Wright and Vlattas) Construction Company out of Norfolk, Va., and the construction will be completed by Frank L. Blum of Winston-Salem. These two companies were the designers and builders of South Residence Hall. For current first-year students, the requirement has been increased from two to three years, necessitating more living space for upperclassmen. The requirement change is based on the idea that “more on-campus students create a greater sense of vibrancy and the additional buildings allow us to meet the needs of the modern student,” as Donna McGalliard, dean of Residence Life and Housing, added. “Research shows that students who live on campus tend to be more engaged in campus activities and groups…[which] contributes to a
Conservative icons thrill crowd and students in nation’s capital By Ian Rutledge | News editor
Graphic courtesy of WF News Center
Housing roughly 480 students, the new residence hall on northern campus will expand suite-style housing in an environmentally friendly building. greater sense of community,” McGalliard said. The buildings will house approximately 480 students and offer a mix of four, six and eight person suites. The suites will have living rooms, media and game rooms, laundry facilities as well as several kitchens and study lounges for students. “The buildings will be reflective of the Hearn Plaza residence halls, with modern amenities, room sizes and will provide the open lounge spaces, study rooms, and kitchen facilities that the Quad buildings do not currently provide,” McGalliard said. The buildings will also each
have its own student organization space. The suite-style layout of the buildings is “intended to be attractive for sophomores and juniors,” Jim Alty, associate vice president for facilities and campus services, said. “There are students each year who wish to live on campus, but there are insufficient suites.” “The overall intent is to improve the residential experience for students and make the campus more dynamic and enjoyable,” Alty said. The residence halls will be available to all upperclassmen with residential status.
WakeForestU
Conference celebrating innovation and creativity will arrive on campus on Feb. 25
Graphic by Ian Rutledge/Old Gold & Black
By Daniel Schwindt | Asst. news editor On Feb. 25 approximately 1000 students, faculty, and members of the community will descend on Wait Chapel for the Piedmont Triad’s inaugural TEDx conference. The TEDx conference series is based off of the TEDtalks, a four-day conference in California launched almost three decades ago that highlights new ideas in science, technology, society and business. Although the TEDx conference series is based on local, self-organized events and is not a single presentation like the TEDtalks, it has the same mission: getting the word out about “ideas worth spreading.” The impetus behind the TEDx conference is senior Lucy Lan, whose membership in the National Collegiate Innovators and Inventors Association inspired her to try and bring TEDx to the Triad. “My role as the National Collegiate Innovators and Inventors Alliance (NCIIA) Student Ambassador at Wake Forest is to create networks and events that inspire university entrepreneurs,” Lan said, “Back in August, I was thinking of how I could help catalyze
innovation and entrepreneurship among students on this campus–and thought “why not bring a TED-like experience to WFU?” With the support of a team of students from Wake and nearby universities, the Wake Forest University Center for Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship, the Office of the Provost and the Office of Personal and Career Development have collaborated to bring the TEDx conference to life. The running themes of the TEDx conference are technological innovation, social impacts and entrepreneurial venture. The focus of the conference is to highlight the ideas of various scientific, social, and business fields and to allow them to meld together, creating new creative concepts. “For us as a liberal arts college that’s part of the liberal arts training, to get that interconnectivity of thought, to get people looking at things through different prisms,” Polly Black, director of the Center for Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship, said. “So it’s really very cool to have a TED talk because it fits right in with that in terms of having
See TEDx, Page A8
The annual Conservative Political Action Conference, better known as CPAC, was held Feb. 9-11 in Washington, D.C. In attendance were many of the Wake Forest College Republicans who attend the conference annually. “We listened to a wide variety of conservative speakers including Gov. Huckabee, Senate Minority Leader McConnell, Sen. Rubio, and Ann Coulter. We also heard from all of the presidential candidates except Ron Paul, though his son gave a speech,” Ashley Berger, senior and chair of College Republicans, said. Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich were also present and addressed the conference concerning their presidential platforms, while Rand Paul spoke in place of his father, Ron Paul, who was absent from the conference. The conference is held each year to listen to different prominent conservatives discuss the party’s base platform. A vast amount of conservative speakers provided opinions on many democratic initiatives and legislation. “At the conference we heard many well known speakers as well as up-andcoming ones.” Daniel Suarez, junior and Treasurer of College Republicans said. “My favorite part was the spirited speech by Congressman Allen West (R-FL,) who is very popular among national conservatives, because his appearance wasn’t scheduled and a total surprise, and as usual he delivered a great speech,” Suarez said. CPAC also serves as a rallying call for conservatives leading up to the presidential election season. “This year, I attended specifically to hear the presidential candidates’ speeches.”
Ashley Berger Senior
“So many people attended that we sometimes waited in line for hours to get seats for speakers,”Berger said. “That’s a good thing though! It means the Republicans are more excited and willing to be involved than in the past.” Furthermore, many of the College Republicans wanted to listen to the potential nominees so they can make a more informed decision as to who they would vote for in the primaries. “This year, I also attended specifically to hear the presidential candidates’ speeches because I still have not decided who I should support for the nomination,” Berger said. The conference also holds a straw poll to gauge who the frontrunner is for the Republican presidential nomination, although in past
See CPAC, Page A3
Inaugural Words aWake! celebrates the written form By Julie Huggins | Asst. news editor
For those interested in writing, the idea of finding a job after college can be worrisome, nervewracking and even downright terrifying. The media fuels doubt as to whether writing is a viable career choice, seeing as the Internet is filled with potential (and unpublished) writers and print is supposedly dying a slow death. Students often become discouraged with potential writing careers, seeking refuge in more “practical” career choices. Words Awake!, a conference to be held March 23-25 on the university’s campus, hopes to change that perception by showing that writing can indeed lead to a viable future. The conference – the first ever to be held at Wake – will feature a number of Wake Forest alumni who have gone on to work in the written world, whether it
be through books, newspapers, television, magazines or film. These alumni will be involved in a variety of different panel discussions, performing book readings from their novels and interacting with the attendees all weekend. “Very few schools celebrate
those who graduate with degrees in humanities and go on to write.”
Thomas Phillips
Wake Forest Scholars Program Director Thomas Phillips, director of the Wake Forest Scholars program, said, “There are three facets to this event: engaging the public in the rich history of writers from Wake, educating the community, faculty, students, and everyone
else about the world of writing, and finally celebrating writers from Wake.” The attending alumni will be going out into Forsyth County schools on March 23 to interact with students about writing in the real world. Later that day, one of the visiting alums, Tom Hayes, will be showing a documentary on his father, the legendary Harold Hayes, and former editor of Esquire magazine, who also graduated from Wake Forest. March 24 will be devoted to exploring the world of writers, with panel discussions on things such as “Writing for Business,” “Writing/Editing Careers in North Carolina and the United States,” “Writing/Speaking of Faith and Conscious” and “Writing in a
See Words, Page A6
Graphic courtesy of WF News Center
This conference, the first of its kind, hopes to demonstrate the power of writing with different seminars, panels, noted speakers and networking events.