Stories this week at Wake Forest

August 15, 1996

Freshman to Arrive from 41 States

Nearly 950 freshmen will move into residence halls beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 20. The best places to catch them unpacking are Collins, Bostwick, Johnson, Taylor, Kitchin, Palmer and Piccolo residence halls. Student volunteers and Wake Forest employees will help new students move into their rooms. Tents with vendors selling milk crates, refrigerators and other college basics will be set up between Bostwick and Johnson residence halls. Forty-two of the new students were valedictorians of their high school classes and 70 percent were ranked in the top 10 percent of their classes.

Class of 2000 Gets Laptop Computers

In Wake Forest’s history, this year’s freshmen will be remembered as the class that made powerful laptop computers as common as pens and notebooks on campus. As part of an extensive plan to enrich undergraduate education, each freshman will be provided with an IBM ThinkPad 365XD that they can use to reach the Internet from practically any place on campus. The ThinkPads will be distributed in Reynolds Gymnasium Aug. 26 throughout the day; students will receive training on them Aug. 27 at sites across campus. The Plan for the Class of 2000, drawing its name from the first class to benefit from it, also gives students more faculty, specially designed seminars to strengthen critical-thinking skills, and more.

Orientation Helps Students Adapt to College Life

After meeting roommates and settling in, freshmen will spend several days attending orientation events to help them adapt quickly to life on campus. New student convocation begins at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22, in Wait Chapel. Other orientation events will include library tours, a student activities fair, open houses and information sessions for students and parents. The Year of the Arts Jam, a student-organized event featuring student bands, will introduce students to the Scales Fine Arts Center and inform them about events planned throughout the fall and spring for the university’s Year of the Arts.

Law and MBA Students Head for the Classroom

Orientation for 160 first-year law students and 111 full-time MBA students begins Monday, Aug. 19.