Richmond

A night with a safety shuttle driver

Armed with a box of Charleston Chews, a map of the university, a full bottle of water and a whole lot of patience, Phil Fleetwood, who had been driving continuously around campus for seven hours, said his day had begun a lot earlier, around 6 p.m. Every night for a safety shuttle driver begins at the Richmond International Airport, the home of the six new Groome shuttles, where Fleetwood and the six other drivers have to do an inspection of their vehicles to make sure they are clean and cleared to run before heading back to campus and beginning their night at the Tyler Haynes Commons at 7 p.m. On an average Friday or Saturday night, around 400 university students ride the safety shuttle to various spots on campus from 7 p.m.

Ayers discusses university, city relations during forum

Student leaders from almost fifty campus organizations gathered Tuesday night to engage in a candid discussion with President Edward L.

Students upset as Earth Lodge begins transition

I know what I want to do with my life because of Earth Lodge. I joined Earth Lodge my sophomore year and learned more from it than all the other classes I had that semester combined. My interests have swiftly grown from a limited curiosity about environmental policy to a dedicated student of green philosophy, which I plan to study further through a Ph.D.

Why the Richmond side of campus is better

As sophomores, many of my friends were upset last year because they received high lottery numbers and thus were forced to live on the Richmond ("freshman") side of campus this year. I, however, living on the Westhampton side now, have come to realize just how lucky they actually were. Here are the top nine reasons why it's better to live on the Richmond side of campus: 1.

With peers abroad, stateside juniors reshape social circles and find balance

Juniors who did not go abroad last semester said they did not regret staying on campus. "You only have four years of college," junior Keely Naughton said.

Eat, drink and be merry

I love myself and I hate myself, but my diet starts tomorrow. I am perpetually hungry. Literally, there isn't really a time I can remember when I was too stuffed to eat more. I mean, I may have said I couldn't take another bite, but that was a matter of tricking myself into thinking for a moment that I could maybe practice some vague self-control to avoid the actual physical discomfort of a full belly. There's something about college that makes me eat like I'm one of those starving third-world country kids on the commercials who, by some strange twist of fate, found herself in a supermarket with Oprah's AMEX. When I'm at home, I eat a very "normal" amount of food (note: I mean normal for a chick who has a butt big enough to cause some Richter scale movement when she hops out of bed), but I pretty much eat my three meals and call it a day. On the other hand, when I'm at school I eat breakfast, a snack, lunch, dessert, a snack, dinner, a snack, second dinner, and then, let's be real, probably another snack if I'm staying up late. It's not like I burn more calories at school; it's not like my meals are any smaller; it's not like I'm eating for two.

It's your decision: abortion

I predicted my holiday would be fairly uneventful this year considering I had nothing to do for a month except apply for jobs. The job hunt went well.

URPD introduces text-a-tip program

Members of the University of Richmond community can now submit tips about campus crimes anonymously via text message through the police department's new "text-a-tip" program. The University of Richmond Police Department has partnered with Metro Richmond Crime Stoppers, a local crime-fighting group, to provide the tip-submission program and Richmond's first reward system for tips at no cost to the university. Any person who submits a tip that leads to an arrest will be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000. Through the partnership with Crime Stoppers, people can also submit tips anonymously over the phone at (804) 780-1000 and online at www.tipsubmit.com.

Gottwald observatory and telescope unveiled

The physics department has unveiled the observatory and telescope on the Gottwald Science Center roof donated by University of Richmond trustee emerita Martha Carpenter. Ted Bunn, a physics professor involved with the telescope installation, said the telescope would be available to the wider campus community, not limited to the physics department. "We will use the telescope in classes," he said.

How are you? I meant that as a rhetorical question

In my high school, the greetings were untrained at best. We were pretty informal with one another, and while "sup" was the most "talkative" form of greeting, a head nod was the norm.

Production studies III class prepares for 'Marisol'

The students in the production studies III class chose to produce "Marisol," a magical realist play written by Jose Rivera in the '90s. The play, which will be the end result of the students' work in the capstone class for the theater department, will take place in February. "Marisol" tells the story of Marisol, a woman from the Bronx who works in publishing in Manhattan and tries to homogenize herself.

Roommates take a different kind of Vegas gamble

The neon lights of Las Vegas, Nev., have wielded a magnetic attraction over generations of those who dream of fortune and lust.

Facilities plans to fix more UFA door issues

ROTC visits nursing homes, honors veterans

The University of Richmond's Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) is honoring Veterans Day by visiting veterans in a local nursing home and presenting the colors at the School of Law's Veterans Day Ceremony and at the first basketball game against The Citadel, which is also military appreciation night. Sophomore ROTC cadet Colin Billings said he had a new appreciation for veterans and what they had done and realized the serious commitment he had made to serve in the armed forces after graduation. "Last year, I don't remember participating in any events," Billings said.

E! True Hollywood story: Kri$ty and Mystic Orchard

This is the incendiary tale of a couple of average Richmond kids, trying to come to grips with success ... who come up short, with nothing to show for themselves but a tale that begs to be told. 5:00 p.m.: This is the time I'm supposed to arrive on the set on Friday with Julia Pepe, WC '11, to co-star in our first feature film with Katherine Heigl. Well, when I said "co-star," I meant we were extras.

Rollergirls get physical, raise money for charity

The River City Rollergirls have been attracting fans at the Greater Richmond Convention Center since the beginning of their season this year, and sharing the profits with a Richmond charity. River City Rollergirls, known as RCR for short, was created in 2006.

URPD teaches self-defense classes to women on campus

The University of Richmond's North Court reception room was filled with laughter last Tuesday as the women's lacrosse team practiced self-defense moves; but what they were preparing for was not funny. "If someone attacks you, one of three things is going to happen," said Sgt.

Here's the pitfall, you're a sleepyhead

Three nights ago, I stayed up until 3 a.m. and got up at 8 a.m. Two nights ago, I followed that five hours up with an all-nighter and did not sleep at all.

Holton's "Abigail Adams" nominated for literary award

University of Richmond professor Woody Holton has been nominated for the Virginia Literary Award for his book, "Abigail Adams." Holton, an associate professor of history and American studies at Richmond, is one of three finalists for the Library of Virginia's Literary Award in the nonfiction category.

The Richmond dating culture: settling for anything but the best

Guy: "Hey, [girl's name]! How are you?" (Ye olde Richmonde tip-of-the-hat gestural question, which more than certainly does not require an answer other than...) Girl: "Good, what about you?" (Naturally, he's --) Guy: "Good." (Action complete.) "So, do you have a lot of work to do tonight?" And then, in what I would have thought would be taken as an irresistibly Michael Cera-ish way, "Just because, you know ... I just wanted to know if you had any plans because ... well, me and a few people were talking about maybe hanging out for a little while." His line here continues, but I just want to stop and note that to complete the visual of the situation, you must know that he stood in one spot and pivoted in place in order to maintain eye contact as she continuously sidled around him toward the library entranceway. Despite her impressively rapid sideways movement, I was able to catch her eyes rolling from my seat on the library bench as he tried to find the right way to ask her to chill with him. Guy (cont.): "Anyway, I'd love if you came and hung out, too." (Phew -- right as she got her first foot in the door.) "I mean, if you don't have too much work, or whatever." Girl: "Uh -- now I do." (I'm not kidding.