Baylor in the News – May 9-15, 2021

May 16, 2021

Media Contact: Baylor University Media and Public Relations, 254-710-1961
Follow us on Twitter: @BaylorUMedia

WACO, Texas (May 16, 2021) – Baylor University researchers and faculty experts were featured in national and local media stories as they shared their thoughts and expertise on choosing between good and evil in video games, ending child hunger and stopping mosquitoes from spreading diseases like malaria and West Nile virus.

May 11, 2021

WIRED: Why Is It So Hard to Be Evil in Video Games?
Daniel Shafer, Ph.D., associate professor of film and digital media at Baylor, is quoted in this article about the choices between good and evil for gamers. Shafer’s researched how people approach moral choices in video games and found that nearly half who chose the good path were “morally activated,” meaning they felt empathy for the non-playable characters, felt guilt at the prospect of doing evil or were trusting their instincts about what felt right.

KXXV-TV: 68 Years Ago: Remembering the deadly Waco tornado
VIDEO: Baylor historian Stephen Sloan, Ph.D., shares the history of the deadly Waco tornado on May 11, 1953, through an app called "Waco History" that tells the story of the tornado's path and its lasting effects on the downtown area.

KWKT-TV: Baylor University announces exclusive education partnership with Topgolf Waco
Baylor University has announced an innovative partnership with Topgolf Entertainment Group – a global sports and entertainment leader – as the official education partner of Topgolf Waco. The sponsorship agreement is the first between a university and Topgolf nationwide at this partnership level.

May 12, 2021

Baptist News Global: White evangelical leaders who repress women are revered as saints, author says
Baylor history professor Beth Allison Barr, Ph.D., author of the new book The Making of Biblical Womanhood spoke at a May 11 webinar hosted by Baptist News Global.

The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education: Higher Education Grants or Gifts of Interest to African Americans
Baylor University in Waco, Texas, received a $488,000 grant from the Eula Mae & John Baugh Foundation. The grant program under the direction of Greg Garrett, Ph.D., professor of English, will aim to expose harmful racial myths embedded in American culture and the good stories that could replace them in an extensive research project.

May 13, 2021

The Dallas Morning News: Sen. Cornyn’s child hunger legislation expands a Baylor University pilot program
In this column, Jeremy Everett, executive director of the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, writes about the BCHP’s pilot program to use the mail service to deliver meals to children living in extreme poverty in rural areas and how new federal legislation could create the most comprehensive plan in American history to end child hunger for good.

Waco Tribune-Herald: Baylor reaches $1 billion fundraising mark as Tidwell Bible Building renovation nears completion
Baylor University has reached the $1 billion milestone in its Give Light fundraising campaign, bringing the university within $100 million of the campaign’s goal. The milestone also was reported on by, Baptist Standard and FOX 44. Baptist News Global, Baptist Standard and FOX 44.

KWBU-FM: Business Review - “Shattering the Glass Ceiling In IT”
AUDIO: Women face many factors in regards to advancement and persistence in an Information Technology career. Cindy Riemenschneider, Ph.D., professor of management information systems at Baylor, discusses her research about shattering the glass ceiling.

ABC Good Morning America: Didi Richards opens up about a devastating injury, getting drafted to WNBA
VIDEO: GMA’s Robin Roberts interviews former Baylor women’s basketball player Didi Richards, who came back to play after being temporarily paralyzed by a collision in practice last year and will be playing for WNBA’s New York Liberty this season.

May 14, 2021

Baylor Connections: Cheolho Sim, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biology
AUDIO: Mosquitoes are massive global agents of the spread of diseases like malaria and the West Nile virus. Cheolho Sim, Ph.D., associate professor of biology, has dedicated his research towards suppressing mosquito populations and slowing the spread of disease, recently earning a grant from the National Science Foundation to advance those efforts. In this Baylor Connections, Sim shares how genomic research into a mosquito’s circadian rhythm could be key to slowing the spread of disease, and examines how his lab lives out its motto, “driven by science, guided by compassion.”

USA TODAY: 'What if it was your kid?': Parents of young children feel forgotten as CDC loosens mask restrictions
Emily Smith, Ph.D., assistant professor of epidemiology at Baylor, in quoted in this article about new CDC mask guidelines that she says have been “hard and confusing” for parents who are fatigued by making constant difficult decisions to protect their children from the virus.

Baptist News Global: Evangelical leaders explain why skeptical evangelicals should get vaccinated
Emily Smith, Ph.D., assistant profess of epidemiology at Baylor who is known for her popular Facebook page Friendly Neighbor Epidemiologist, joined Russell Moore, president of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, and Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, for a recent webinar hosted by the Facebook for Faith learning group to address the vaccine skepticism of white evangelicals.

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 at www.baylor.edu/news/experts.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 19,000 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 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.