Daily Deacon

Thrive Week’s Campus Canvas Event Photojournal

More than 60 students flocked to the Magnolia Quad on Friday, April 1^st for an afternoon of art for Campus Canvas. The event was organized and sponsored by Thrive, an initiative created by Wake Forest’s Office of Wellbeing. Organizers provided students with free paint and canvases as an outlet to express their creativity and self-expression. The event was part of Thrive Week, a week-long awareness initiative that featured events around campus to promote mental health and well-being around the Wake Forest community. Catherine Currin, one of the event’s organizers said the event was “a really great time,” adding “I honestly did not think that this many people would come.”

Students showing off their paintings on Davis Field

Sustainability Group leaders displaying their unique painting techniques

Students on the quad paint their canvases, surrounded by the signature Thrive Week leaves

A student diligently working on a painting on the quad

Event organizers, Catherine Currin and Katie Ambrose, showing off some paintings as participants work in the background

Event organizer, Alex Patrone, displaying his graffiti advertisement for the event

March Madness: Everyone’s Favorite Thing to Lose

One in 9 quintillion: these are reportedly the odds of correctly predicting the outcome of every game in the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament, a feat also referred to as “a perfect bracket”. Despite these astronomical odds, every March millions of people around the country and world make their predictions for who will be crowned national champion.

This year’s tournament has been predictably unpredictable. Out of more than 12 million brackets submitted to the ESPN Tournament Challenge, none has fewer than 4 incorrect picks. One of those picks was Michigan State’s first-round loss to Wichita State.

“That absolutely ruined my bracket,” Said Wake Forest Sophomore Mike Dunsheath, “I think that was definitely the biggest upset of the first round.” Dunsheath was not alone in his frustration. According to online gambling site Bovada, more than 98% of brackets had chosen Michigan State to win that game and 55% of all brackets had them winning the entire tournament.

Upsets like these are what keep drawing back more and more people each year, says Sports Economics Professor Todd McFall. “You play the game to get those upsets and Cinderella picks. There’s no other reason.”

The so-called Cinderella picks that McFall mentioned refer to lower-ranked teams that make it further in the tournament than expected. And this year the tournament features one of the most remarkable Cinderella stories in history.

10-seed Syracuse has upset every team it has played, including 1-seed University of Virginia on its path to the Final Four. According to ESPN, only four double digit seeded teams in tournament history have made it to the Final Four. To put this in perspective, at the start of the tournament Las Vegas sports betting agencies had 10,000-1 odds for Syracuse to win the tournament. UVA, on the other hand, was given only a 1,000-1 chance to win it all.

“What makes it exciting is games like the UVA-Syracuse one,” Said Wake Forest Junior and amateur gambler Will Campbell. “The one-and-done, single elimination aspect of it creates so much drama for the teams and the fans. It’s just unparalleled.”

This tournament format is not often seen in high level athletic leagues like the NCAA. The four major professional sports leagues in the United States all use series style playoff set-ups where the same teams play each other a minimum of four games and maximum of seven before moving onto the next round.

Even though the odds are stacked against a winning bracket the unique tournament format, the Cinderella picks, and the passion of players and fans alike draw millions of people to March Madness every year.

Beautiful Lede for Food Hardship Report

Winston Salem was found to be the country’s number one metropolitan “food desert” in 2010, with more than 35% of families struggling to buy food, in a nationwide study published today by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC).

B-matter

Democratic B-matter

Two remaining democrats in the field are Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. Sanders is considered more leftist than Clinton and has relied heavily on social justice issues and youth and minority voters thus far in primaries. Hillary is more of an establishment candidate and relies on her experience and “realistic” promises moreso than Sanders.

In terms of Primary results and voter turnout, Clinton holds the edge over Sanders in both. Clinton won seven states on Super Tuesday to Sanders’ four. The two candidates saw a significant decrease in voter turnout compared to eight years ago, when Obama brought nearly 30% more voters to the polls than both Clinton and Sanders combined.

Based on the results of Super Tuesday it looks likely that Clinton will receive the Democratic nomination over Sanders, by a fairly wide margin of both voters and delegates. Many pundits attribute this to Sanders’ highly progressive agenda, which many voters see as too idealistic and extreme to work in American politics. Clinton’s slightly more conservative agenda seems to be working with voters who feel struck and disconcerted by the absurdity of many of the candidates in the entire field.

Historically, the democratic candidate who has performed better on Super Tuesday has gone on to win the nomination and pundits believe this year’s election to be no different. Sources have the odds of Clinton winning the nomination over Sanders at 95%.

March 15^th will be the date of four other primaries besides North Carolina. Those states are Illinois, Florida, Ohio, and Missouri.

Republican B-Matter

The Republican field is currently made up of four candidates vying for the G.O.P. nomination: Marco Rubio, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich. Currently Donald Trump is leading the Republican field after a strong performance on Super Tuesday, winning seven states conceding only four states to two of the other three candidates. Ted Cruz is currently polling second behind Trump, having won three of the four states not won by Trump. Cruz is followed by Rubio who had only one Super Tuesday victory in Minnesota. Kasich won no states and is expected to terminate his candidacy in the coming weeks.

Trump’s campaign is based on “telling it like it is” and referring to his Business experience as a demonstration of his economic expertise. Trump is mainly supported by undereducated lower class males who find his antics, vulgarity and his position as a political outsider attractive. In the last week, Trump has received an endorsement from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie much to the behest of the Republican Establishment.

Ted Cruz will likely be Trump’s main competitor leading to the Republican Convention after he was significantly closer to Trump’s numbers than either of the other two candidates. Recently, Cruz and Rubio have increased their efforts in knocking Trump from his top atop the podium. In debates and speeches the second and third place candidates are speaking out against Trump criticizing his lack of experience and his outrageous antics.

Republican candidates experienced record voter turnout on Super Tuesday with more than 8.5 million Republican voters voting. This is compared to the 4.7 million voters who voted in the 2012 Primaries in the same 11 states. This is a good sign for the Republicans because it shows these candidates can bring out high volumes of voters.

March 15^th will be the date of four other primaries besides North Carolina. Those states are Illinois, Florida, Ohio, and Missouri.

Voter B-matter

North Carolina voting laws have changed significantly since the 2012 election due to the passing of a controversial bill in 2013 that effects many aspects of the North Carolina voting process. The largest effect that the bill will have is on voter ID regulations. Voters will now have to present a very specific form of ID upon entering the polling location. These forms of ID include a valid N.C. Driver’s License, a U.S. Passport or a special Identification card approved by the N.C. Board of Elections.

In 2013 the President of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP filed a lawsuit against Governor Pat McCrory against voting laws that have curtailed or, in some cases, eliminated voting practices that blacks have disproportionately used. The new voter ID laws that require a more strict and specific form of identification in order to be allowed to vote is thought by many to be an attempt by the Republican Governor to reduce turnout of minority voters and thereby skew the results of elections in favor of Republicans.

There is also a controversy regarding the zoning of voting areas. Two voting areas in particular have come under scrutiny from minority justice seekers. The two areas are zoned in such a way that minorities are grouped together thereby limiting the value of their votes. This is seen as another attempt by the Republican majority that is made up, in large part, of non-minority voters.

These controversies will potentially effect voter turnout and thereby effect the results of the elections specifically in favor of the Republican Party, which is seen by many as the perpetrators of these unjust pieces of legislature.

Super Tuesday Articles Reflection

Clinton trounces Sanders to win South Carolina Democratic Primary

This article did an adequate job explaining how Hillary Clinton was able to take South Carolina over Bernie Sanders. The lede was very good and set up the rest of the article very well. I thought that the diction was fairly biased at certain points but it is understandable considering the margin of victory Clinton won by. The sources in the article were varied in age and political expertise, which I thought was very useful in terms of understanding the general political environment in South Carolina. The article also did a good job explaining why South Carolina was such a Clinton Stronghold, giving some description of her husband’s political history in the state.

2016 Primary Results and Calendar

This piece was, for the most part, a graphic showing the distribution of votes and states for both the Republican and Democratic Candidates. The top of the graphic showed only the 2016 Super Tuesday results while the lower portion of the piece showed the outcomes of past Super Tuesdays. I thought this graphic did a great job showing voter trends and history. It is a very valuable piece of information for journalists because by looking at history we are more able to review the Primary results from a more informed stand point. For example, the Democratic Primary results in Georgia are more interesting considering that Obama won in 2008. This rise in popularity for Hillary Clinton suggests something that could be worth more investigation into the matter.

Graduating Seniors Choosing Grad School Now More Than Ever

As graduation approaches, Wake Forest University Seniors are being pushed to decide the next step in their lives. And more than ever, those students are choosing graduate schools over searching for immediate placement into the workforce.

U.S. News and World Report recently reported that graduate school applications from graduating undergraduates rose more than 8% from 2015 to 2016. This follows an 8% increase from 2014 to 2015, equaling the largest percentage growth in history.

Wake Forest Seniors seem to be helping this trend with more than 23% of students surveyed in the Senior Class planning on attending graduate school in the next year or one year removed from the end of their undergraduate careers. According to statistics on the Wake Forest University Graduate Program website, this number has increased steadily from 11% since 2011.

According to Generation Opportunity, a conservative nonprofit that advocates for millennials, this spike in undergraduate seniors deciding to pursue graduate school is a sign of a struggling economy and tough job market. A Wake Forest Senior who asked to remain anonymous echoed the sentiment that only the highest qualified applicants are being considered for jobs. “These are entry-level jobs, but experienced people are taking them.”

As out-of-college job placement becomes increasingly difficult, “millennials, and employers for that matter, are starting to believe that an undergraduate degree just isn’t good enough,” said Dr. Herman Rapaport, a Wake Forest Professor of more than 20 years. “A degree, even from a prestigious university like Wake Forest, just doesn’t mean what it used to in terms of gaining meaningful employment.”

To many, a graduate degree offers a more secure path towards the goal of a gainful career. Wake Forest University Senior, Valeria Villa, turned down several offers from high-earning jobs out of college in order to pursue a Law Degree from New York University. “It just makes more sense in the long run,” she said, explaining her decision to reject her initial offers. “A Graduate Degree of any kind opens so many doors that otherwise would never even be on your radar.”

A tough job market and a broader field of job options are not the only reasons today’s undergraduates are more frequently pursuing graduate degree programs than their older peers. Some seniors, such as Senior Biology and Chemistry Major, Eric Bueter, see Graduate School not as a vehicle for job placement but rather motivation for waiting longer to enter the job market.

“I just worked my a** off for four years, and had the best time of my life,” Bueter said when asked why he wanted to put off the job search in favor of completing a Graduate Degree at the University of Chicago’s Biochemistry Ph.D. Program. “Now I get to study exactly what I want to at one of the best programs in the entire world. Who in their right mind would pass on that?”

As factors such as the difficult job market and a more secure career path weigh on graduating seniors now more than ever, it is easy to see why Graduate School has become a more frequently chosen option for first year post-graduates than it has ever been in the past. And in the case of Bueter, Graduate School just makes sense. “I never want to stop learning. Ever.”

Media in Journalism Post

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14833757/chris-bosh-working-miami-heat-undetermined-medical-condition

This is a multimedia article that includes a discussion panel video, a photograph, and text about the progress of injured Miami Heat player, Chris Bosh.

WFU Beat Reporting

Five Sources

1. Adam Hammer, President of Student Body

2. Max Floyd, Head of Campus Recreation

3. Nathan O. Hatch, President of WFU

4. Penny Rue, Vice President of Campus Life

5. Ron Wellman, Director of Athletics

Five Sources of Information

1. http://events.wfu.edu/

2. http://www.wfu.edu/academics/

3. http://www.bloggersodear.com/

4. http://inside.wfu.edu/inside/

5. http://su.wfu.edu/

Three Story Ideas

1. WFUBMC 3D printing body parts

2. Graduate School vs. Professional world: What Are WFU Graduates Choosing and Why?

3. Bell Chimers: What Inspires You to Chime?

Assignment 1 Reflection — Bennett

I really enjoyed writing this article because it gave me insight into sports writing while also helping me learn more about our soccer program. As far as the interviewing and information gathering goes, it was much less stressful than I expected it to be. The internet is such a useful tool for journalism, it gives me perspective and admiration for journalists who worked before its existence. This assignment gave me a good template for how I plan to conduct my interviews and gather information for the remainder of the course. As far as writing is concerned, I think this article gave me some insight as to how to structure a news story. I still need to work on the detached, biasless voice required for this kind of journalism but I get the sense that it will become much easier as time goes on. I’m excited to see how sports writing differs from the other kind of journalistic pieces I’ll be working on over the course of the semester.

Bobby Muss: Wake Forest Men’s Soccer 2016 Recruiting Class ‘one of the best in the nation’

Wake Forest Men’s Soccer Head Coach Bobby Muss has already had quite an impact on the University’s soccer program in his one year at the helm, and Muss looks poised to try to repeat his success next season. February 5^th, 2016 was national signing days for high school senior soccer prospects to declare where they plan to lace up their cleats and play soccer for the next four years of their athletic careers.

Since suffering a loss to Stanford in the Elite Eight of the 2015 College Cup NCAA tournament, Muss and his team of coaches and recruiters have been actively pursuing new talent. This is an especially difficult task considering the loss of starters Jack Harrison and Michael Gamble, who went first and 30^th overall respectively in this year’s MLS draft.

Despite the losses of these key contributors, Muss seems confident that the returning players and the upcoming new talent will be adequate to maintain their success and grow as the team moves forward. “I am extremely excited about this 2016 recruiting class… [this is] one of the best recruiting classes in the nation.”

The student atmosphere surrounding the Men’s Soccer Program grew significantly last year with the team maintaining the #1 ranking in the NCAA for more than three weeks leading into the College Cup, so there was considerable excitement surrounding the new signing class.

“Oh yeah, we got that Brazilian guy who’s supposed to be amazing!” shouted junior Khaki Wade about 2016 signee Bruno Lapa when asked if she had heard any news about Signing Day.

Lapa is one of the most highly coveted young players to come to the United States to pursue a career in college soccer. Often, foreign players forgo an American college experience to sign with a professional club, which makes this signing especially significant for Muss and the team.

Lapa follows in the footsteps of Jack Harrison, a native of England, to choose Wake Forest for his college soccer career.

“I’m really excited about Lapa,” said sophomore soccer player Matt Szucs. “Brazilians are always so fun to watch and I really think this kid’s going to fill some of the holes left by Michael [Gamble] and Jack [Harrison].”

Joining Lapa in the class of 2020, will be Ema Twumasi of Connecticut, Joey DeZart of New Jersey, Thomas Menke of Texas, and Mike DeShields of Maryland.

And it looks like the class is only going to get bigger. “We are looking forward to announcing a few more very talented players joining this class over the next few weeks the will continue to strengthen [this] class,” commented coach Muss shortly after the last signee signed his letter of intent.

Considering the success the team had last season and the confidence of Coach Muss in the incoming recruiting class, the Demon Deacons should be a top 10 team in college soccer for this 2016 season.