I want to write about Winston-Salem’s food shortage problem. Winston-Salem is a food desert, meaning that its citizens are not getting access to the fresh produce they need. I find it fascinating that a school as wealthy as Wake Forest, where 22% of the student body comes from a household income of over $600,000, is located in such a devastatingly poverty-stricken city. H.O.P.E, or Helping Other People Eat, is a Winston-Salem based non-profit organization that delivers food to members of the Winston-Salem community who are unable to feed their families. Some Wake Forest students participate. I would like to talk with them, as well as the adult volunteers. I would also like to interview Wake kids, because I doubt many of them are aware of how truly impoverished Winston-Salem really is.

Manchester Athletic Center: Home of the Wake Forest Volleyball Team

By Benny Bagnell

When news broke a few weeks ago that a current Wake Forest University student got into the school through illicit means, many community members expressed surprise and outrage. As more details have come out, students have shown increased empathy for the student involved.

Wake Forest’s very own William Ferguson, a once highly-regarded women’s volleyball coach, was accused of accepting a bribe of $100,000 and funnelling that money into the Wake Forest Deacon Club, the Wake Forest Women’s Volleyball team, and the rest to a private volleyball camp he controlled. The money was taken from a charity account and sent to Ferguson by William Rick Singer, the mastermind behind the entire Operation Varsity Blues.

Operation Varsity Blues included many prestigious universities such as Yale, Georgetown, and USC. The scandal came to the forefront of national news on account of the involvement of notable celebrities such as Lori Loughlin, an actor from the nostalgia-inducing Full House.

Students have had a mixed bag of reactions when asked about the university’s involvement in the nationwide college admissions scandal. Some were nonchalant, while others expressed utter befuddlement.

“I was very surprised at first because of the standards that Wake Forest upholds,” said M.C. Meredith, a junior and member of the Women’s Tennis team. “The school talks a lot about the integrity of the admissions process, so this took me by surprise.”

“I feel like this is a pretty isolated scandal,” said sophomore McCarthey Lupo. “This seems like more of a volleyball or athletic department-specific problem, and not a campus-wide issue.”

So what should become of the student who gained admission into Wake Forest on account of her parent’s wealth? Most students agree that the parents and Ferguson are more culpable.

“Even if she did know, she shouldn’t be punished for one mistake,” said Meredith.

“Does she work hard?” asked Haley Porter, freshman. “If she does, then yes, she should definitely be allowed to stay.”

While the fate of the student has yet to be resolved, most students agree that the school’s admissions practices require increased scrutiny, particularly within the athletic department.

“The process [to get into the school] should be more difficult for athletes,” said Meredith. “Something needs to change.”

I am planning on interviewing Heidi Robinson, the head of the Office of Personal and Career Development. I think she is a very interesting person who cares very much about each and every student and helping them figure out what they want to do with their lives. I can talk to the other people in her office to get their perspectives and talk to some students who work with her, like senior Helen Morgan.

For Story 3, I have several options to consider. I might write about the tree tags, which are being placed on trees on campus from March 25th to April 12th to show how beneficial trees are to our campus and to our environment. I could also write about a Hillel event that is occurring at 4pm today – the Byrum Welcome Center is hosting an event for the Daffodil Project, an initiative to plant 1.5 million daffodils to represent the lives lost by 1.5 million children in the Holocaust. I am planning on reaching out to Jim Coffey, the landscaping head of Wake Forest, to use as a source. I also am thinking about researching Tree Campus USA, of which Wake Forest is a part of. I think this is a newsworthy story because it will help students appreciate the environment and our campus much more.

Vanessa Friedman is the aficionado of fashion for the New York Times. In her piece, “Marc Jacobs and the Ghosts of Fashion Past and Future,”Friedman posits that fashion is currently MIA due to the “current identity crisis in this country.” Alluding to larger social and political issues and most likely digging at Trump’s presidency, Friedman subsequently (and gracefully!) transitions to discuss the success of Marc Jacobs’ Spring 2019 show.

Friedman opens her articles by setting a picturesque scene or relating to a current event or even a relevant television series before transitioning into fashion. She describes the runway shows she sees in vivid detail: “With long gowns speckled with crystal, sashes draped into a governess bustle at the back. With explosions of elaborately ruched opera coats.”

Ultimately, what sets Friedman’s articles apart is not only her wealth of fashion knowledge, but also her writing abilities, which are undeniably impressive. It is clear that she loves writing about fashion, and she paints a picture quite well.

Friedman also uses visuals to help “paint a picture” – she usually inserts a lot of multi-media into her articles, including slideshows and videos of fashion shows for context.

Friedman’s nut grafs generally relate to fashion on a larger scale and she often drops copious facts about household names without sounding stiff. She also likes to quote household names. She references Tom Ford in one article, “Day clothes don’t really exist anymore. It’s all jeans or workout gear.” In a tweet several days ago, she paid tribute to the late Karl Lagerfeld and shared his famous quote, “I’m very much down to earth. Just not this earth.”

Friedman also likes to ask questions in her articles that make the reader think. For example, another one of her articles is titled “More Women Than Ever Are Running for President. Do Designers Care?” Friedman infuses feminism into her writing, which is one of the main reasons why I admire her so much. She is never afraid to ask questions, ranging from the staples of fashion to the conventions of our society. She enjoys voicing her opinion and making statements that could be viewed as controversial or harsh.

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/14/fashion/marc-jacobs-michael-kors-new-york.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Fvanessa-friedman&action=click&contentCollection=undefined&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/13/fashion/gabriela-hearst-coach-oscar-de-la-renta-fashion-review.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Fvanessa-friedman&action=click&contentCollection=undefined&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection

For my first story, I will be covering the student-curated Horses and the Human Experience exhibit at Wake Forest’s Museum of Anthropology. I am looking forward to learning about the partnership between humans and horses that has developed throughout recorded history. I will be visiting on Tuesday, February 12th.

The reporter I will be following this semester is Vanessa Friedman, the fashion director and chief fashion critic for The New York Times. She leads global fashion coverage for both the New York Times and International New York Times. Her alma mater is Princeton University. She has previously worked for the Financial Times, InStyle UK, The Economist, and American Elle. She is also a contributor to Vogue, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair and Entertainment Weekly. I have chosen to follow her because fashion is something I have been very interested in since I was young. My dream is either to work in PR for a fashion or beauty conglomerate or to write for a fashion magazine. I have gleaned from her writing style that she has her own confident and distinctive voice and she is incredibly astute in her observations. I believe I can learn a lot from her commentary on the newest fashion trends.

Articles:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/23/fashion/givenchy-maison-margiela-couture-paris.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Fvanessa-friedman&action=click&contentCollection=undefined&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/21/fashion/the-treasure-behind-the-wall.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Fvanessa-friedman&action=click&contentCollection=undefined&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=collection