Buddhism: Growing With Time

By Jessica Porter

With actors like Richard Gere and Orlando Bloom converting to Buddhism, the religion is becoming more main stream in American Culture. Considering many people in the United States grew up Christian, this new wave of Buddhism is taking many by surprise.

Read the whole story in Ground Report

Buddhism is an Eastern Way of Life Appealing to Westerners

By Jessica Porter

Scarlett Sams works in a Presbyterian Church during the day, but on Thursday nights she attends a meeting of Tibetan Buddhist’s at Ekoji Buddhist Sangha in Richmond, Va. She is a part of a growing Buddhist movement in the United States of every day Americans finding comfort in this Eastern tradition.

Read the whole story in Ground Report

Earth Day Festival a Success in Richmond

Richmond's Earth Day Festival occurred on Saturday, April 18 at the south end of the 14th Street bridge from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The festival allowed organizations in the Richmond area to show their "green" ideas and products. The day provided an opportunity for people of all ages to learn about their affect on the environment and ways to preserve the Earth. Bill Conkle and John Zeugner were two of the event co-chairs and described why Earth Day is important and what they liked the most about the festival.

Independent vs. Chain Coffee Shops: Room for Both in the Fan

With so many choices for food and beverages in the fan area there can’t be too many coffee shops.

By Jessica Porter

The fan area, especially around VCU, is crawling with independent businesses that give the area its charm. Even with the presence of chain corporations, locally owned coffee shops are able to thrive.

Crossroads Coffee & Ice Cream is often packed full of people who choose to spend their money at an independently owned business despite a Saxbys Coffee near the dorms, two Starbucks on campus and three more Starbucks in the area. The owner of Crossroads, Jeff Kroll, does not even view the chains as competition.

“The population hungers for something different that reflects the neighborhood,” said Kroll. He is sure to incorporate things that appeal to the diverse residents of the fan and VCU Students. A larger menu and the option for ice cream make an experience at Crossroads different from that of a chain.

Another coffee shop, Common Groundz, offers organic fair trade coffee people go out of their way for, said owner Scott King, 38. Common Groundz also provides a large food menu.

“We have 70% food and 30% coffee, that alone negates competition,” said King.

A benefit of going to a locally owned coffee shop is employees are able to “develop relationships” with customers and “a persons coffee can be started as soon as they walk in the door.” said King. Face and name recognition is very important, he said.

Independent coffee shops are able to make the building more personal by choosing what music to play, what decorations to put up and the overall mood of the coffee shop, said Kroll.

The atmosphere is “not nearly as structured” and provides an “environment around creative people” you can’t get at a chain like Starbucks, said Crossroads employee Will Gowdy, 30.

Rostov’s Coffee & Tea is an independent coffee shop different from the others because it is not a café. Rostov’s roasts and sells their coffee by the pound and also sells tea, mugs and other drinking accessories. Owner Tammy Rostov, 41, is confident about the coffee provided.

“What we do is unique, there’s no coffee that has not been roasted and ground in the store,” said Owner Tammy Rostov. “Anyone who sells coffee actually helps us because people realize what we have us better.”

The “big green monster on campus” is not a worry Kroll said, “Because there is enough population for independent and chain coffee shops.”

This is not the case for all independently owned coffee shops in the area. The Common Cup, located near Crossroads, recently closed for reasons that are not clear. There is speculation from a neighboring business that the closing was due to the economy. Attempts to reach the owner of the Common Cup were unsuccessful.

But many people choose to stay loyal to chain business like Starbucks because they get caught in a routine and that particular store is the most convenient. Nikki Thompson, a junior at VCU, gets beverages exclusively from Starbucks because of its convenient location in the VCU commons.