Baylor in the News – June 25-July 1, 2023

Contact: Baylor University Media & Public Relations, 254-710-1961
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WACO, Texas (July 2, 2023) – Baylor University researchers and faculty experts were featured in national and local media stories about sabbaticals as a professional practice but also a crucial spiritual one, automated warfare and Just War Theory and how the fear of missing out on social activities negatively affected the mental health of adults at high risk of serious disease during the COVID pandemic.

June 25, 2023

The New York Times: Can Everyone Take a Sabbatical?

In this article about the practice of taking sabbaticals, Sandeep Mazumder, Ph.D., The William E. Crenshaw Endowed Dean of Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business, says that before we could possibly see an uptick in sabbaticals in this country there would need to be a profound shift in how Americans think about rest and work more broadly.

June 26, 2023

Financial Advisor: Advisors Need To Rethink Retirement Income, Reichenstein And Meyer Say

Two of the top Social Security and retirement experts in the country, including William Reichenstein, Ph.D., emeritus professor of finance at Baylor, say advisors need to rethink the way they plan for their clients' retirements. Calculating retirement plans based on a client’s marginal tax rates can gain substantially more income for clients than the traditional practice of using tax brackets.

June 27, 2023

Food Service Director: Summer meal delivery program receives funding to continue operations for 5th year

The Baylor University Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty’s Meals to You program will continue for a fifth year thanks to $7.2 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The program will deliver meals this summer to rural students in Texas, New Mexico, Utah and Alaska.

June 28, 2023

Galveston Daily News: Puzzling out ‘just wars’ from a Protestant viewpoint

Paul Martens, Ph.D., associate professor of ethics at Baylor, reflects on the concept of Just War Theory, which awaits updates for automated warfare.

June 29, 2023

MedicalXpress: Pandemic 'fear of missing out' had mental health consequences for older adults, study shows

During the COVID-19 pandemic, fear of missing out (FOMO) on social activities may have negatively affected the mental health of adults at high risk of serious disease, according to a new study from Rice University and Baylor University. The study was led by Angie LeRoy, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor.

Waco Tribune-Herald: Waco colleges, activist weigh in on Supreme Court's affirmative action decision

Local colleges react to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling to strike down affirmative action in college admissions, including Baylor, which released a statement that the decision won’t have an impact on its policies or practices, as it uses a “holistic” approach for admissions decisions. The ruling also was covered by KWKT-TV (FOX/Waco) and KXXV-TV (ABC/Waco).

The Dallas Morning News: U.S. Supreme Court strikes down affirmative action in college admissions

Constitutional law professor Brian Serr of Baylor Law School is quoted in this article about the U.S. Supreme Court dedication to end colleges’ ability to consider race in the admissions process, in a landmark decision that comes after decades of legal precedent supporting the practice.

Religion News Service: How male headship became core to SBC identity

Q&A with Beth Allison Barr, Ph.D., The James Vardaman Professor of History at Baylor University and author of “The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth,” about this month’s meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, the SBC commitment to “soul competency” and why she thinks the denomination has essentially changed.

The CLS Blue Sky Blog (Columbia Law School): Interlocking Boards Lead to Knowledge Spillovers and Corporate Innovation

Baylor business professors Shuting (Sophia) Hu, Ph.D., and Qinxi Wu, Ph.D., were among researchers who examined whether interlocking boards provide an important channel for scientific knowledge and innovation to flow between firms.

Brookhaven National Laboratory: Science Workshop Outlines a TRACER Future

Researchers gathered in Texas and online to share data, preliminary results, collaborations and next steps from the Houston-focused Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) campaign. A team led by Rebecca Sheesley, Ph.D., a volatile organic compounds researcher at Baylor, deployed a mobile air quality laboratory to five sites across the Houston metroplex. TRACER-MAP will provide a “more nuanced vision” of air pollutant and aerosol distributions across the city.

June 30, 2023

Baylor Connections: Barbara Walker

AUDIO: A trailblazer, social worker, civil servant and leader, Barbara Walker was Baylor University’s first Black female graduate. This Spring, statues of Walker and Rev. Robert Gilbert, Baylor’s first Black male graduate, were dedicated in front of Baylor’s Tidwell Bible Building. In this Baylor Connections, Ms. Walker shares stories from her time at Baylor and her career in social work, and examines what it means to see a statue which immortalizes her contributions for future generations.

The Christian Scroll: How do Software Developers Progress the IoT?

This article about software developers’ key role in the evolution and maintenance of IoT, or the Internet of Things, mentions Baylor’s software engineering course that helps students develop a strong knowledge of IoT that can play a significant role in the future of humanity.

July 1, 2023

Waco Tribune-Herald: Mike Copeland: Mac and cheese expansion; Shaq's plans for Waco; BU nursing endowment; Leadership Waco

Baylor has announced it has received a $1.5 million gift to establish the first endowed chair in its Louise Herrington School of Nursing to create the Louise Herrington Endowed Chair in Mental Health. The gift coincides with Baylor in August introducing its new Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner track within its Doctor of Nursing Practice degree program. LHSON Dean Linda Plank, Ph.D., was interviewed for the article.

The Dallas Morning News: Independence Day is a gift I’m learning to appreciate

Robert F. Darden, emeritus professor of journalism, public relations and new media at Baylor, writes in this column about how each gift given with love and no expectation of return, no matter how small, is the pearl of great price. And we are gifted by the giving, Darden writes.

Christian Standard: Faith Factors

This column about the number of churches according to the U.S. Religion Census cites a July 29, 2022, Wall Street Journal article, in which Baylor professors Byron Johnson and Jeff Levin claimed the U.S. Religion Census undercounted the total number of congregations by between 26-40%.

The Wacoan: Texas History, Texas Treasures

Under the umbrella of the Texas Historical Commission, the McLennan County Historical Commission keeps history alive in Waco. Sylvia Hernandez, certified archivist of The Texas Collection at Baylor, discusses the MCHC’s work on historical markers as well as carrying out its goal to encourage historical education through the Heart of Texas Regional History Fair, which Hernandez chairs and is hosted by Baylor.

ABOUT BAYLOR MEDIA & PUBLIC RELATIONS

Baylor's Office of Media and Public Relations (M&PR) supports the University's Illuminate strategic plan as a top Christian research university by focusing on faculty research and expert opinions, innovative teaching, major awards and recognition, and community involvement. Through its media training workshops, the Baylor M&PR team develops faculty experts to effectively communicate the impact of their research or speak as subject-matter experts into national trends and conversations with media outlets, through Hot Topics and on the Baylor Connections podcast. Our faculty expert directory is available on the M&PR website.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked Research 1 institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 20,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.