RICHMOND - Virginia’s “pothole blitz” has been so successful that Gov. Bob McDonnell has extended the initiative until April 15. The pothole blitz originally was scheduled only for the month of March.
This article was published on the Midlothian Exchange Web site - Pothole blitz continues until April 15.
Showing posts with label vcu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vcu. Show all posts
Friday, April 9, 2010
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
From community organizations to gubernatorial candidate
Brian Moran has worked hard in community organizations, the House of Delegates and, now, running for governor, fighting for the issues he considers important to the community.
By Samantha Downing
Education. Economy. Environment.
Brian Moran, one of the men in the race to be the Democrat candidate for Virginia governor, believes these three issues are of great importance.
“I grew up with parents who really instilled in us a belief that you have an obligation to leave the world a better place than you found it for your children,” Moran said. “It’s always been engrained in me.”
Because of what his parents taught him, Moran has been involved in the community for many years. He volunteered for a multitude of community organizations – many of them dealing with children.
“One thing led to another,” he said. “One evening 15 years ago [Governor] Mark Warner suggested I should run for the House of Delegates.”
His involvement increased in the legislature. Moran was Chairman of the Virginia House Democratic Caucus for several years. He worked closely with Warner and Governor Tim Kaine, and wants to continue their legacy of progressivism in Virginia.
Kaine’s changes to the budget and the effect on schools have some students at Virginia Commonwealth University concerned about what the future will bring.
“I hope that we get more funding to VCU,” said Stormy Holt, a mass communications student. “There’s a lot of budget cuts going on right now.”
Holt said she doesn’t want any more classes to be cut or majors to be discontinued.
Britt Smith works with VCU Students for Brian Moran, and he has confidence in Moran when it comes to education.
“Brian has put an extreme amount of importance on educating youth – just in the most general terms – because that’s where it all begins,” Smith said.
“If you give people that firm foundation and throw the money at the schools and do what you need to do…then you will, in a sense, produce the most viable next generation.”
Moran said he understands what college students go through, and he wants to set their minds at ease.
“We have to make sure our colleges are affordable for all incomes in Virginia,” he said. “I worked at a lot of jobs – gas station attendant, construction, work-study programs – all to afford college. So I get that.”
Moran said he knows the apprehension families face when considering the present economy. He has plans to create green jobs to boost the economy and improve the environment at the same time.
“There’s some wonderful research being conducted at colleges and universities,” Moran said. “We need to coordinate that.”
As a result of this research, Moran said, technology would improve and jobs would be created. In addition, the new technology could be exported from Virginia, which would also help improve the economy in this state, Moran said.
Moran said he wants to make it easier for homes and businesses to implement cleaner forms of energy – such as solar power.
“I want to make it more affordable for folks to put panels in the homes and give them tax credits to do that,” he said. “I also want to use the $160 million we’re receiving from the government to weatherize homes of low-income families and schools.”
In addition, Moran is the only candidate who opposes offshore drilling, emphasizing that he believes we should not continue to rely on nineteenth century fossil fuel.
“It poses an environmental hazard to Virginia Beach,” he said. “The U.S. Navy opposes it as well.”
His energy plan says he “understands that offshore drilling would continue our dangerous dependence on foreign oil.”
How exactly would offshore drilling continue this dependence?
“I don’t know,” Moran said.
Moran has strong opinions about some other issues that have been prominent in recent weeks, such as gun control.
“I would oppose legislation that would allow guns to be in bars,” he said. “I support closing the gun show loophole.”
His campaign is using a social networking site the campaign created, Organize Virginia, to inform people about Moran and what he stands for.
Moran said that now is the time for college students to start getting involved in the community and support the causes they believe in.
“It’s imperative that you commit yourself to the community to try to improve it,” he said. “One person can make a difference.”
By Samantha Downing
Education. Economy. Environment.
Brian Moran, one of the men in the race to be the Democrat candidate for Virginia governor, believes these three issues are of great importance.
“I grew up with parents who really instilled in us a belief that you have an obligation to leave the world a better place than you found it for your children,” Moran said. “It’s always been engrained in me.”
Because of what his parents taught him, Moran has been involved in the community for many years. He volunteered for a multitude of community organizations – many of them dealing with children.
“One thing led to another,” he said. “One evening 15 years ago [Governor] Mark Warner suggested I should run for the House of Delegates.”
His involvement increased in the legislature. Moran was Chairman of the Virginia House Democratic Caucus for several years. He worked closely with Warner and Governor Tim Kaine, and wants to continue their legacy of progressivism in Virginia.
Kaine’s changes to the budget and the effect on schools have some students at Virginia Commonwealth University concerned about what the future will bring.
“I hope that we get more funding to VCU,” said Stormy Holt, a mass communications student. “There’s a lot of budget cuts going on right now.”
Holt said she doesn’t want any more classes to be cut or majors to be discontinued.
Britt Smith works with VCU Students for Brian Moran, and he has confidence in Moran when it comes to education.“Brian has put an extreme amount of importance on educating youth – just in the most general terms – because that’s where it all begins,” Smith said.
“If you give people that firm foundation and throw the money at the schools and do what you need to do…then you will, in a sense, produce the most viable next generation.”
Moran said he understands what college students go through, and he wants to set their minds at ease.
“We have to make sure our colleges are affordable for all incomes in Virginia,” he said. “I worked at a lot of jobs – gas station attendant, construction, work-study programs – all to afford college. So I get that.”
Moran said he knows the apprehension families face when considering the present economy. He has plans to create green jobs to boost the economy and improve the environment at the same time.
“There’s some wonderful research being conducted at colleges and universities,” Moran said. “We need to coordinate that.”
As a result of this research, Moran said, technology would improve and jobs would be created. In addition, the new technology could be exported from Virginia, which would also help improve the economy in this state, Moran said.
Moran said he wants to make it easier for homes and businesses to implement cleaner forms of energy – such as solar power.
“I want to make it more affordable for folks to put panels in the homes and give them tax credits to do that,” he said. “I also want to use the $160 million we’re receiving from the government to weatherize homes of low-income families and schools.”
In addition, Moran is the only candidate who opposes offshore drilling, emphasizing that he believes we should not continue to rely on nineteenth century fossil fuel.
“It poses an environmental hazard to Virginia Beach,” he said. “The U.S. Navy opposes it as well.”
His energy plan says he “understands that offshore drilling would continue our dangerous dependence on foreign oil.”
How exactly would offshore drilling continue this dependence?
“I don’t know,” Moran said.
Moran has strong opinions about some other issues that have been prominent in recent weeks, such as gun control.
“I would oppose legislation that would allow guns to be in bars,” he said. “I support closing the gun show loophole.”
His campaign is using a social networking site the campaign created, Organize Virginia, to inform people about Moran and what he stands for.
Moran said that now is the time for college students to start getting involved in the community and support the causes they believe in.
“It’s imperative that you commit yourself to the community to try to improve it,” he said. “One person can make a difference.”
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Why Moran?
Virginia Commonwealth University is a large campus in Richmond with over thirty thousand students. As the election for the next Virginia governor draws closer, students must decide who they think is the best candidate. Britt Smith, a member of VCU Students for Brian Moran, explains why he believes Moran is the best choice for VCU students - and college students in general.
Monday, March 16, 2009
VCU students struggle for jobs, internships
VCU students preparing to graduate could have a hard time finding jobs and internships because of the economy.
This article was published in the Commonwealth Times: VCU students struggle for jobs, internships - News
This article was published in the Commonwealth Times: VCU students struggle for jobs, internships - News
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Libertarian party for smaller government
By: Samantha Downing
Redpath and the Libertarian party say the government has too much power.
When it comes to election time, most voters choose sides between Republican and Democrat.
But some look elsewhere when preparing to cast their ballots.
“The greatest problem with our political system today is the special interest-driven two-party system that provides the American people with two big-government ‘solutions’ and asks them to choose between the two evils,” said Vladimir Rudenko, vice chairman of the organization Libertarians at VCU.
The chairman of the organization, Steven Latimer, agreed.
“America was founded on a tax revolt, and the Libertarian Party and its candidates are aware of this,” said Latimer.
William Redpath is Virginia’s Libertarian candidate for Senate.
The most important issue in his campaign is national security, without which, he says on his Web site, “The benefits of a free society and prosperity cannot be enjoyed.”
Redpath says the U.S. should adopt a non-interventionist foreign policy. He promotes withdrawing from Iraq and focusing on Al-Qaeda as the greatest security threat.
Regarding the economy, Redpath encourages a reduction in federal government spending.
“Stop the cheesy, half-baked, short-sighted federal responses to the current economic situation,” he says. “Implement long-term solutions now.”
Redpath and the Libertarian party support reducing federal income tax.
“It is time to end this confiscation of our earnings and get the government out of our pocketbooks,” says the party’s Web site.
Seniors should have control of their own Medicare benefits, says Redpath, and Medicaid should be financed by state and local governments rather than the federal government.
“Health care is not a right, because it requires the talents and resources of other people,” Redpath says. “The federal government is not empowered by the U.S. Constitution to provide health care.”
Redpath supports a health care system driven by consumers, not based on employers.
He says Americans should be allowed to make their own decisions regarding consensual crimes, and the individual states should address the issue of drug prohibition.
Born and raised in Ohio, Redpath worked for NBC and ABC in New York, and WISH-TV in Indianapolis before joining BIA Financial Network, Inc. – a Chantilly, Va., company that appraises media and telecommunications businesses.
The Libertarian Party was created in December 1971, and Redpath has been a member since 1984. He is currently the chairman of the Libertarian National Committee.
According to its Web site, the Libertarian Party seeks “a return to the basic principles that made America great,” with a smaller government than either Democrats or Republicans want.
“Government at all levels is too large, too expensive, woefully inefficient, arrogant, intrusive and downright dangerous.”
Rudenko said the government should be shrunk to “its original Constitutional boundaries.”
The Libertarian Party supports the idea of individual responsibility, which means that each person has “the right to control his or her own body, action, speech and property.”
The Libertarian Party says it is the only political party that respects people as individuals and wants the government to do the same.
Redpath formerly ran for the House of Delegates in 1993, for the state Senate in the special election in January 1998, and for governor in 2001 – where he won less than 1 percent of votes.
This election, as he runs for a seat in the U.S. Senate, Redpath’s motto is, “Anything that’s peaceful.”
Also running for Senate in Virginia are Republican Jim Gilmore and Democrat Mark Warner.
Redpath’s name does not often appear alongside his opponents’ in polls, but people like Latimer still support him.
“By voting Libertarian, I made my personal vote as powerful as possible.”
Rudenko said the reason he voted Libertarian is that our country is in trouble because our liberties are being taken away from us.
“Freedom is on the run, in short, and the tiny libertarian minority is trying to shout ‘come back and hold your ground.’ This is America, this is where freedom belongs.”
Redpath and the Libertarian party say the government has too much power.
When it comes to election time, most voters choose sides between Republican and Democrat.
But some look elsewhere when preparing to cast their ballots.
“The greatest problem with our political system today is the special interest-driven two-party system that provides the American people with two big-government ‘solutions’ and asks them to choose between the two evils,” said Vladimir Rudenko, vice chairman of the organization Libertarians at VCU.
The chairman of the organization, Steven Latimer, agreed.
“America was founded on a tax revolt, and the Libertarian Party and its candidates are aware of this,” said Latimer.
William Redpath is Virginia’s Libertarian candidate for Senate.
The most important issue in his campaign is national security, without which, he says on his Web site, “The benefits of a free society and prosperity cannot be enjoyed.”
Redpath says the U.S. should adopt a non-interventionist foreign policy. He promotes withdrawing from Iraq and focusing on Al-Qaeda as the greatest security threat.
Regarding the economy, Redpath encourages a reduction in federal government spending.
“Stop the cheesy, half-baked, short-sighted federal responses to the current economic situation,” he says. “Implement long-term solutions now.”
Redpath and the Libertarian party support reducing federal income tax.
“It is time to end this confiscation of our earnings and get the government out of our pocketbooks,” says the party’s Web site.
Seniors should have control of their own Medicare benefits, says Redpath, and Medicaid should be financed by state and local governments rather than the federal government.
“Health care is not a right, because it requires the talents and resources of other people,” Redpath says. “The federal government is not empowered by the U.S. Constitution to provide health care.”
Redpath supports a health care system driven by consumers, not based on employers.
He says Americans should be allowed to make their own decisions regarding consensual crimes, and the individual states should address the issue of drug prohibition.
Born and raised in Ohio, Redpath worked for NBC and ABC in New York, and WISH-TV in Indianapolis before joining BIA Financial Network, Inc. – a Chantilly, Va., company that appraises media and telecommunications businesses.
The Libertarian Party was created in December 1971, and Redpath has been a member since 1984. He is currently the chairman of the Libertarian National Committee.
According to its Web site, the Libertarian Party seeks “a return to the basic principles that made America great,” with a smaller government than either Democrats or Republicans want.
“Government at all levels is too large, too expensive, woefully inefficient, arrogant, intrusive and downright dangerous.”
Rudenko said the government should be shrunk to “its original Constitutional boundaries.”
The Libertarian Party supports the idea of individual responsibility, which means that each person has “the right to control his or her own body, action, speech and property.”
The Libertarian Party says it is the only political party that respects people as individuals and wants the government to do the same.
Redpath formerly ran for the House of Delegates in 1993, for the state Senate in the special election in January 1998, and for governor in 2001 – where he won less than 1 percent of votes.
This election, as he runs for a seat in the U.S. Senate, Redpath’s motto is, “Anything that’s peaceful.”
Also running for Senate in Virginia are Republican Jim Gilmore and Democrat Mark Warner.
Redpath’s name does not often appear alongside his opponents’ in polls, but people like Latimer still support him.
“By voting Libertarian, I made my personal vote as powerful as possible.”
Rudenko said the reason he voted Libertarian is that our country is in trouble because our liberties are being taken away from us.
“Freedom is on the run, in short, and the tiny libertarian minority is trying to shout ‘come back and hold your ground.’ This is America, this is where freedom belongs.”
Thursday, October 30, 2008
VCU employees donate mostly to Obama
This article was published in the Commonwealth Times: VCU employees donate mostly to Obama - News
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Future of media
By: Samantha Downing
This piece was published in the VCU Mass Comm Week blog.
RICHMOND - Many VCU students get a large part of their news from the Internet. “I think putting the news online gets students to check out what is going on more, said Sierra Heath, a creative advertising sophomore.
As part of VCU’s Mass Comm Week, Heath and more than 100 other students gathered on Tuesday afternoon to hear representatives of several media companies address how the Internet affects traditional forms of media.
“Without an informed society, democracy is weakened,” said Daniel Finnegan, senior editor at the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
He said that the newspaper is in the process of moving to the Internet, but he didn’t know if the newspaper would ever be Internet-only. Finnegan said that, though the number of paid subscriptions has dropped recently, the Times-Dispatch still has 175,000 subscribers.
Finnegan was not concerned about blogs impacting the newspaper because they are usually full of opinions and important only to a few people. He did mention using Facebook as a tool to reach people, adding that in the future, people might be able to monitor their Facebook profiles from the newspaper’s Web site.
As far as a future in the media industry for students, Finnegan said, “I think it’s going to be there in some shape or form.”
Jean McNair, news editor at the Associated Press, said that the world's largest news organization is adjusting to the changes, too. She said that the AP is working on new ways of getting news to people, including through cell phones.
“One advantage the AP has is that we’ve kind of always been a business model that works well on the Internet,” she said. “The cliché was we had a deadline every minute.”
People have an appetite for news, McNair said, and they want to be able to follow stories as they progress.
The publisher of Virginia Business, Bernie Niemeier, said that money is the biggest factor. He said that the Virginia Business Web site does not get enough “click-throughs” – visitors clicking on ads on the site, which generates money for the magazine – to make a significant amount of money.
“If you think about what it costs to put all this content here,” he said, “it can’t be supported by the revenue that’s being generated online.”
The challenge is “monetizing the eyeballs,” which is difficult because it is hard to monitor who visits the site, Niemeier said.
Kym Grinnage, general sales manager at NBC12, said that people need to create a “menu for their life” listing the things that are important to them and the sites they will visit for their news.
He said that it is important to read the newspaper because it contains so much more information than television.
“TV is the tease to get your attention,” Grinnage said.
Grinnage said that students now can design their own careers better than they ever could before.
“You guys have the best opportunity you could have in the world,” he said. “You have the World Wide Web.”
The panel of speakers didn’t think that print media would fade.
“Print is not as dead as you may have heard,” Niemeier said.
Finnegan said, “Newspapers still are, at least right now, your best mass marketing tool.”
Grinnage advised students in the mass communications field to remain "very curious about everything."
When asked how students could support local media, Finnegan laughed and said, “Buy the newspaper.”
# # #
This piece was published in the VCU Mass Comm Week blog.
Media professionals share advice with VCU mass communications students during Mass Comm Week.
RICHMOND - Many VCU students get a large part of their news from the Internet. “I think putting the news online gets students to check out what is going on more, said Sierra Heath, a creative advertising sophomore.
As part of VCU’s Mass Comm Week, Heath and more than 100 other students gathered on Tuesday afternoon to hear representatives of several media companies address how the Internet affects traditional forms of media.
“Without an informed society, democracy is weakened,” said Daniel Finnegan, senior editor at the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
He said that the newspaper is in the process of moving to the Internet, but he didn’t know if the newspaper would ever be Internet-only. Finnegan said that, though the number of paid subscriptions has dropped recently, the Times-Dispatch still has 175,000 subscribers.
Finnegan was not concerned about blogs impacting the newspaper because they are usually full of opinions and important only to a few people. He did mention using Facebook as a tool to reach people, adding that in the future, people might be able to monitor their Facebook profiles from the newspaper’s Web site.
As far as a future in the media industry for students, Finnegan said, “I think it’s going to be there in some shape or form.”
Jean McNair, news editor at the Associated Press, said that the world's largest news organization is adjusting to the changes, too. She said that the AP is working on new ways of getting news to people, including through cell phones.
“One advantage the AP has is that we’ve kind of always been a business model that works well on the Internet,” she said. “The cliché was we had a deadline every minute.”
People have an appetite for news, McNair said, and they want to be able to follow stories as they progress.
The publisher of Virginia Business, Bernie Niemeier, said that money is the biggest factor. He said that the Virginia Business Web site does not get enough “click-throughs” – visitors clicking on ads on the site, which generates money for the magazine – to make a significant amount of money.
“If you think about what it costs to put all this content here,” he said, “it can’t be supported by the revenue that’s being generated online.”
The challenge is “monetizing the eyeballs,” which is difficult because it is hard to monitor who visits the site, Niemeier said.
Kym Grinnage, general sales manager at NBC12, said that people need to create a “menu for their life” listing the things that are important to them and the sites they will visit for their news.
He said that it is important to read the newspaper because it contains so much more information than television.
“TV is the tease to get your attention,” Grinnage said.
Grinnage said that students now can design their own careers better than they ever could before.
“You guys have the best opportunity you could have in the world,” he said. “You have the World Wide Web.”
The panel of speakers didn’t think that print media would fade.
“Print is not as dead as you may have heard,” Niemeier said.
Finnegan said, “Newspapers still are, at least right now, your best mass marketing tool.”
Grinnage advised students in the mass communications field to remain "very curious about everything."
When asked how students could support local media, Finnegan laughed and said, “Buy the newspaper.”
# # #
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