Gas Lines

I woke up around eight last Monday to the sound of a jackhammer eating away a chunk of asphalt on my street. I was startled and confused.

I know eight is kind of late for those that have jobs, but for a college kid, that’s really early. I went out side to see what was going on, and found a bunch of men digging up my gas meter.

That’s when I realized, it was my street’s turn to get the gas upgrade.

The City of Richmond hired the Trafford Corporation to replace the old cast iron gas lines about 10 years ago. They have been working in the Fan for about 2 years. The upgrade also improves the gas pressure going to the home.

Though most are happy the upgrades are taking place, some are upset that the construction damages the roads.

“They tear up the roads and don’t ever replace anything,” says Kyle Murphy, a Bike messenger. “They just put down a layer of dirt and potholes form about two days later.”

Murphy says it’s dangerous to ride with damaged roads. He could easily hurt is bike or himself. He doesn’t like to ride in the middle of the road, but sometimes he’s forced to, and as we all know, that’s where the cars belong.

Books on Wheels brings bikes books and fun

A bunch of old bikes a pile of books and a painted school bus, these are key ingredients in a plan to bring free books bike repair and lots of fun to people who could use all three. If this sounds a little gonzo it should because the main inspiration for the Books on Wheels gang is the Muppets.

A graduate student at VCU’s school of social work has come up with her own form of community outreach by giving away free books and bike repair.

Shelley Briggs and Ward Tefft of Richmond say this is one of the best ideas dreamed up yet. It’s their organization called Books on Wheels. This community-focused group gives away books and repairs Bicycles for free.

Money vs. morals, Virginia retirement system indirectly supports genocide in Darfur

Picture this, your mother or father worked for the general public (i.e. state employee, educator, county/city/town employee) and now he/she has retired. They’re receiving pensions and benefits provided by a state agency whose sole interest is to simply provide the very best in benefits for retired public employees. No dilemma so far, actually sounds pretty reasonable right?

Now, this agency relies on stocks and investments for 75-80% of the return that provides benefits for mom and dad, the other 20-25% is our tax dollars. What if you found out the state agency providing those benefits, invests in the stocks of companies that operate in Sudan, Africa? Not just any part of Sudan, but in a region called Darfur. In 2003, President Bush and congress ruled an apparent genocide is underway in the region. Here in lies the problem.

S.A.V.E.S throws carnaval d’ amour

The student group Sexual Assault and Dating Violence Education by Students, also known as S.A.V.E.S, threw their second annual Carnaval d’ Amour in the commons. Their goal was to raise awareness about sexual assault on college campuses. The topic is one that traditionally raises concern, but the way S.A.V.E.S presented the information was as nontraditional as it gets.