Looking to give back? Several opportunities are available at Wake Forest:

The Angel Tree

The Angel Tree is in Benson University Center on the second floor outside the food court. Each year, the Volunteer Service Corps student organization partners with Big Brothers Big Sisters and The Potter’s House to provide holiday gifts for children who would otherwise go without.

The program depends on members of the university community who adopt the angels in order to provide holiday cheer for these nearly 150 children. The Angel Tree gifts were originally due Thursday, Dec. 5, but the deadline has been extended to Dec. 11. Please contact Meg Fallon at fallme0@wfu.edu or VSC adviser Shelley Sizemore at gravessa@wfu.edu for more information.

Gifts for Kids

Wake Forest Athletics and WGHP (FOX8) are partnering for the fourth consecutive year to bring the Gifts for Kids initiative to the Joel Coliseum for the Deacons’ basketball game against Richmond on Saturday, Dec. 7. Fans are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy to the game. Fans will receive a free ticket to the game with the donation of a new toy with a retail value of $10 or greater.

All donations will be collected by The Salvation Army and will be given to children in the Winston-Salem area. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. Doors open at 12:30 p.m.

Backpack Program

For the fifth year in a row, WFDD (88.5), the NPR affiliate station licensed to Wake Forest, is partnering with the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest N.C. in a campaign to support both organizations. This three-way partnership results in necessary funds for WFDD and support for the Food Bank’s Backpack Program, combatting childhood hunger.

This program sends food-insecure children home from school each Friday with a backpack full of nutritious food to sustain them over the weekend.

During the WFDD Backpack Campaign, corporate sponsor Ralph Lauren contributes a backpack of food to the Food Bank for each pledge received by WFDD, up to a total of 800 backpacks. WFDD will be on the air Dec. 11-12 for this campaign. More information is available at the WFDD website, wfdd.org, where real-time tracking of the number of backpacks raised is also available.

Silman

Wake Forest biologist Miles Silman will speak on “Real-World Sustainability in Winston-Salem: Solving today’s Environmental and Energy Challenges” at a Dec. 10 event at Wake Forest Biotech Place. Free and open to the public, the event will be presented by the Technology Council of the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce.  Online registration is requested.

Silman is professor of biology and director of the Wake Forest Center for Energy, Environment and Sustainability. He will offer an overview of the Center, discuss how it is generating novel technologies in the areas of sustainability and explain how it is taking them out of the lab and into applications in the real world.

The event will start at 9 a.m. Following Silman’s presentation, there will be a 15-minute period for attendees to ask questions. The program will be held in the auditorium. At 10 a.m., there will be free coffee, light snacks and a networking opportunity in the atrium.

Silman’s talk is part of the Tech Council’s Speaker Series, which features discussions on topics related to Winston-Salem’s innovation-based economy.  In part, the events are intended to offer opportunities to meet people involved and interested in developing Winston-Salem’s future.

Wake Forest Biotech Place is at 575 N. Patterson Avenue in the Wake Forest Innovation Quarter. Parking is available in the lot directly north of Biotech Place.

The Tech Council’s Speaker Series is sponsored by Cook Medical, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

Duin

Steve Duin (’76, MA ’79) has published his first novel in ebook format with Wake Forest University Digital Publishing.

“The Less We Touch” is the story of winners and losers, players and coaches, kids and parents — their games familiar but haunting; sometimes funny but not really fun; ultimately more chilling than thrilling.

“Steve’s a great storyteller,” said Bill Kane, the director of digital publishing at Wake, “and we’re honored to host his foray into long-form narrative on our fledgling digital publishing platform. He’s already an accomplished writer, and we’re really happy to help deliver high quality ebook content to his deserving readers.”

Duin has written column for The Oregonian since 1984. Read more »

“The Less We Touch” is available here: http://wfu.tizrapublisher.com/the-less-we-touch

The New Year will soon be here and with it comes the opportunity for a new start and a new you! If you’re like millions of Americans, you will vow to turn over a new leaf come January. Your goal might be to eat a healthier diet, stop smoking, lose weight or walk three miles a day. Often times, however, come late January or February, it all seems to be too much.

Does this sound familiar?  You are not alone and Wake Forest’s Therapeutic Lifestyle Change (TLC) program can help!  With the addition of several new components, TLC is better than ever.

What is HELPS TLC? HELPS TLC is a medically directed, professionally supervised “Therapeutic Lifestyle Change” designed to develop a healthy and active lifestyle utilizing exercise and education programs.

What will you receive? Individualized assessments, therapies and follow-up; dietary intake is assessed through computer-analyzed food records; supervised exercise sessions at our conveniently located monitored exercise facility; weekly small group sessions will be held on campus in Reynolds Gym 210.

What is the cost? The cost will be covered by Wake Forest.

Who will be helping you? The HELPS TLC staff consists of an exercise physiologist, registered dietician and behavioral scientist who work together to teach you behavioral strategies for the management of physical activity and eating.

We are currently taking applications for the next group which will start the middle of January.  For more information or to sign up, please contact Andrea Cox via email at shuttar@wfu.edu or by phone at ext. 5853.  Space is limited, sign up today!

Congratulations to Patricia Nixon, professor of health and exercise science, whose proposal entitled “Pre-natal Events, Post-natal Consequences II (Competitive Renewal)” has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under award number 5P01HD047584-08 and the WFU Health Sciences (WFU funding agency).

Congratulations to Miles R. Silman, professor of biology, whose proposal entitled “Ecosystem effects and carbon content of Amazonian bamboo-dominated forests” has been funded by NASA.

More than 30 faculty, staff, students, retirees and others will be showing their creative side and offering handmade items for sale at the ninth annual Artisans’ Fair on Friday, Dec. 6. The fair will be held from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. in the Benson University Center, room 401.

Vendors must be Wake Forest faculty, staff, students or relatives, but the fair is open to the community. There is no charge to attend. Cash and checks will be accepted, and door prizes will be given.

The fair is now a Wake Forest tradition, with new vendors sprinkled among some who have shown every year.

Below is a full list of vendors and their products for the 2012 Artisans’ Fair:

John Wise, associate vice president of hospitality & auxiliary services, conducts a tour of the North Dining Hall.

Although the new North Dining Hall is not complete, sections of the new building are open beginning today (Tuesday, Dec. 3), and the campus community is invited to come and check out the new facility.

The new Starbucks and the P.O.D. Market on the lower level will be available from 7 a.m.-9 p.m., and the general seating throughout the building will be available 24 hours a day (including during final exams this semester).

There are a few remaining items to complete for full opening in January, including the completion of the two primary food venues – Bistro ’34 and The Hilltop market – as well as landscaping, fixture installations and final furniture delivery.

To support the College’s initiative to provide increased study space, the building’s general seating will be available for 24-hour study, social and community use during the final two weeks of the semester, and this availability will continue in the spring semester.

“I am truly appreciative of the collaboration with John Wise and others who have helped to make this new dining facility and its 24 hour accessibility possible,” said Jacque Fetrow, dean of the College.

On Dec. 3, Facilities & Campus Services will begin the process of washing exterior windows for the following buildings:

Museum of Anthropology, ROTC, WFDD, Worrell Professional Center, Alumni Hall, Miller Center, Manchester Athletic Center, Reynolds Gym, HS Moore Building, Cardiac Research Center, Student Social Center, Nanotechnology

Because of the nature of this work, the proposed schedule may need to be adjusted due to changes in weather conditions. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Mary Lynn Redmond, professor of education, has been elected president of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). Redmond was nominated and elected by her peers from across the nation. She is serving this year as president-elect and will serve as president from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 31, 2015.

ACTFL was established in 1968 as the only national organization that represents teachers and administrators of all languages and at all levels from pre-kindergarten to post-graduate. Representing more than 12,000 members, ACTFL is led by a Board of Directors consisting of 15 educators from across the country and includes prominent members of the language profession. Members of the foreign language teaching profession, educational institutions, and state and national government agencies look to ACTFL as the leader in standards development for foreign language proficiency and instruction in the U.S. ACTFL conducts an annual meeting each year with more than 600 educational sessions attended by more than 7,000 foreign language educators from across the U.S. and the world.

Ana Iltis, associate professor of philosophy, was first author on a paper that just appeared in JAMA Psychiatry (formerly Archives of General Psychiatry). The paper, “Addressing Risks to Advance Mental Health Research,” provides mental health researchers with practical approaches to identify, communicate, manage and justify research risks.

Iltis also serves as the director of the Center for Bioethics, Health and Society at Wake Forest.