Smoking ban dies, one group’s hope lives on

A House of Delegates subcommittee may killed any remaining chance of a smoking ban in Virginia for 2008, but one group  of advocates say the fight isn’t over. This year’s proposed legislation would’ve banned smoking in most public buildings, bars, and restaurants. Opponents of the ban say people should have the right to smoke where they want; supporters say second hand smoke is a killer.

Forty of those smoke-free advocates took party in this year’s Young Leaders Day at the Capitol.  The group featured teachers, physicians, high school and college students and citizens from across the state. With funding and assistance provided by the American Cancer Society, the group assembled at the Library of Virginia.

 

VCU Alert seeks to defuse campus disasters

School shooting are a reality. In the last year, the Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois shootings have taken the lives of 39 people, most of them college students.

To help prevent such a tragedy on its campus, Virginia Commonwealth University has implement the Emergency Alert System, also known as VCU Alert.  The system is designed to give student the information they need to know to stay safe in life threatening situations.

Your chance to dance

Every Friday, VCU’s Swing Club gets down. Free and open to the public the club usually draws in about 30 members ready to dance.  The club teaches different skill levels of swing, so everyone can learn something new.

Sara Reynolds is the vice president of the club and helps teach. She has been swing dancing for almost three years.  She even showed us a few moves; watch and you’ll see it’s really not that hard.

Rams make history on Senior Night

Senior Night could not have been sweeter for VCU’s Jamal Shuler (Jacksonville, N.C./Jacksonville), Michael Anderson (Virginia Beach/Landstown) and Wil Fameni (Douala, Cameroon/Amelia Academy). Not only did they get a 72-58 win in front of a crowd of 7,241 at the Stuart C. Siegel Center, they clinched the CAA regular season crown for the second consecutive season.

“We set out with that (the regular-season title) being a goal in the beginning of the year and to see it come to fruition today is a good feeling,” said VCU head coach Anthony Grant.

With the win, VCU is guaranteed a spot in the NIT if it were not to qualify to participate in the NCAA tournament.