OLD GOLD&BLACK W A K E
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U N I V E R S I T Y
T H U R S D AY, J A N U A RY 2 9 , 2 0 0 9
VOL. 92, NO. 18
“Covers the campus like the magnolias”
Student and professor awarded for diversity efforts sor of Political Science Larry Little and senior Ronald Williams. Nominees are recommended by faculty, students and staff members at their respective universities. The recipients are then chosen by the WFU/WSSU Holmes MLK Committee, which includes student and faculty representatives from both schools. Every year, only one student and one administrator/professor
By Chantel O’Neal | Asst. life editor
In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the university partnered with Winston-Salem State University in the ninth-annual presentation of the “Building the Dream” award. The award is given to students, faculty and administrators that have made exceptional efforts to promote racial diversity and harmony. This year the university honored Harold Holmes, associate vice president and dean of student services, and senior Trayonna Floyd from Gastonia. Recipients from Winston-Salem State University included Associate Profes-
from each university is awarded. Both Holmes and Floyd have made tremendous contributions to promote diversity, each in their own way. Holmes, who became a part of the university in 1987, was recognized for his role as an advocate for diversity and multiculturalism in every office in the Division of Student Life. Over the years, his efforts have made a lasting impact on the university. “He has helped create an atmosphere that especially nurtures and supports students of color,” said Barbee Oakes, director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs. “He is a gentle giant in higher education, one of the greatest hidden
treasures of the Wake Forest community.” During the presentation, Holmes was also acknowledged for establishing the Mission of Good Hope. Through this trip, students travel to Kayamandi Township to conduct a computer literacy program Floyd for the local citizens. This was monumental, since it was the university’s first international service
University Coordinating with the Community encourages theme houses By Caitlin Brooks | News editor
Following her freshman year, sophomore Crystal Okudo and a group of her friends decided that they wished to live together for their second year at the university. However, they were not interested in residing in a regular residence hall, but a house that was either on campus or close to campus. When Okudo and her friends learned about theme housing, they were intrigued by this residential option and paid visits to a few of the existing theme houses, eventually concluding that they desired to live in the International House. “We share a unity here at our house – a unity that none of us achieved with our hall mates in the huge freshman dorms,” Okudo said. “Theme housing has given me a stronger sense of belonging. I don’t feel like I’m just one of the thousands of students at Wake, walking around campus completing my daily routine. I feel that I have a home to go to at the end of the day. I feel cared for and know that there are people at my house waiting to see me at the end of every day.” Matt Imboden, coordinator of residence education in the Office of Residence Life and Housing, affirms that on a national scale it is generally recognized that college students realize their learning potential best when they experience full community membership in the learning setting. “At Wake Forest we are proud to work to provide this experience to all students in all Residence Halls,” Imboden said. He goes on to describe theme housing as a program which “allows interested and motivated groups of students to go a step further and create a living/ learning community intentionally focused around a common endeavor or interest. “By working with students through such a program, and providing them with support, guidance and encouragement, curricular and co-curricular activities can be holistically combined in exciting ways for the residents,” Imboden said.
Junior Dhruva Rajendra left an internship with Virginia Senator Jim Webb in the U.S. Senate in 2007 with a vision. When he returned for another internship in D.C., this time in the private sector with a defense lobby firm, his plans were cemented. By combining his perspectives from the public and private sectors of government, Rajendra, a political science major, saw ample ways that big government could work for small businesses. The problem was letting the business owners, nose deep in the day to day operations of their companies, know about it. Upon return to the university, Rajendra set out to find the resources to make this connection happen. Research returned a potential answer: a new program in the Graduate School of Law called The Community Law and Business Clinic (CL&BC) which will launch during the Spring 2009 semester. The CL&BC is a new education program that will provide law and graduate business students an opportunity to develop skills needed to deal with complex laws and regulative legislature. It serves a double purpose by bringing the resources and expertise of the university to the WinstonSalem community at large. In particular, it aims to increase the capacity of nonprofit development organizations by providing free legal services. This not only helps out the organizations, many of which could not afford legal services on their own, but gives graduate students the opportunity to get hands-on, real world experience before they graduate. The other half of the CL&BC’s clientele is made up of small businesses that are selected based on a rigid set of criterion. The CL&BC will provide training on business law issues and individualized assistance with business development to small businesses specializing in art and agriculture.
See Theme, Page A7
See CL&BC, Page A3
By Ashton Astbury | Asst. news editor
Professor publishes comedic novelette By R. Hunter Bratton | Asst. opinion editor
David Coates, the Worrell Professor of Anglo-American Studies within the political science department, publicly released his first novelette to a heterogeneous crowd of students, faculty and community members at the College Bookstore Jan. 27 on Hearn Plaza. Coates is the well-known author of many non-fiction works covering such topics as American public policy, global political economy and British labor politics. He said this paperback is unlike his other books because it is “designed purely to give readers wild merri-
ment in these troubling times. Tough times demand a little bit of laughter.” Although now a naturalized citizen of the United States, the university professor was born in England and raised on the works of Tom Sharpe, author of the Wilt series, and the flippant comedy show Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Titled The Thighs of Rose TudorCrump, Coates’ book is a jovial account of one day at a university when the dean of the college must decide which of two departments must be permanently closed down. Coates said the novelette containes plenty of “university humor.” “I took a lot of the jokes we all know
and love, exaggerated them, and created a story to get readers laughing,” Coates said. Coates, who sported a shirt at the book release with the caption, “Careful, or I’ll put you in one of my novels,” refused to say which of his colleagues made their way into his book, but he remarked that he is looking forward to reading of himself in their future novels. The author did reveal that none of his characters are modeled after members of the university community, yet he hopes students and faculty alike can relate to the exaggerated circumstances of his novel and laugh at their own quirks. Two of Coates’s charac-
Life | B5
INSIDE:
Alumni survival guide
Brieflies
A2
Police Beat
A2
Spotlight
B2
University alumnus outlines skills and preparations needed to succeed after graduation.
The Hot List
B6
In Other News
Sudoku
B6
• Comprehensive Cancer Center asks for funds | A2 • Teacher starts new interest group for feminists | A3
ters include Dr. Saddam Hussein, the “unfortunately named professor of Middle Eastern studies,” and Dr. Rose Tudor-Crump, the beautifully proportioned departmental chair. The day at the university is crammed full of wild happenings including lectures taught by those who know nothing of their topics and antithetically confusing test questions given to students. Even George W. Bush isn’t spared in the novel. There are lost body parts, missing people, exploding rooms, “mildly gassed cheerleaders” and an ambassador who never seems to leave.
trip to Stellenbosch University in Cape Town, South Africa. A partnership with WSSU also makes it the only international service-learning program that includes participants from another university. “It was a great honor to receive the award with Dean Harold Holmes,” Floyd, fellow recipient, said. “He is a wonderful person who I admire and have a great depth of respect for. I worked with him closely as a committee member to plan the Twin Cities Leadership Conference and found him to be a very intelligent, humorous and
See Dream, Page A7
Outside the Bubble... Seven bodies found in California home The bodies of two adults and five children were found in a Los Angeles neighborhood home on Jan. 27. It is believed the children’s father murdered them and his wife before killing himself. The man called 911 and faxed a local television station. In the faxed note the man mentioned he was depressed about his employment situation. A suicide note was found in the home.
Pulitzer Prize winner dies of cancer John Updike passed away Jan. 27 after a battle with lung cancer. He was 76. Updike is regarded as one of the greatest and most prolific writers in modern America. He won the Pulitzer Prize twice for Rabbit is Rich and its sequel Rabbit at Rest. Updike’s other famous works include The Witches of Eastwick and Terrorist.
Doll modeled after slain child causes outrages Showbiz Productions is halting the launch of its “Caylee Sunshine” doll after complaints from the public and the family of murdered toddler Caylee Anthony. The dolls are intended to honor children who died young with one hundred percent of the proceeds going toward charity. Caylee Anthony’s grandparents believe “This is an example of another person trying to profit from the tragedy of Caylee’s death.” Caylee was two years old and her skeletal remains were found last month in the wood near her grandparent’s house. Her mother, Casey Anthony, faces charges of first-degree murder.
Bulgarian gunman hijacks bus A man hijacked a bus in Bulgaria carrying about 40 passengers by claiming to have a bomb. The man forced the bus to stop near the town of Lovech at a petrolstation. He demanded that the police bring a man to him whom he claims caused his girlfriend’s miscarriage in a car accident. The hijacker was discovered not to have a bomb and claims he did not want to harm any passengers, just look the man who hit his girlfriend in the eyes. No one was injured.
Woman gives birth to octuplets in California Although doctors originally believed the woman to be carrying seven fetuses, she gave birth to the nation’s second live-born set of octuplets on Jan. 26. The six boys and two girls are still in incubators, but doctors say they are “doing very well.”
See Coates, Page A2
Sports | B1 Deacons top Devils The No. 4 Demon Deacons beat the No. 1 Duke Blue Devils in final seconds of highlyanticipated ACC match.
Opinion | A5 XOXO Former Opinion editor reveals opinion on Pledge Night traditions.