Richmond is for Bikers

RICHMOND, Va. – For Scott Williams, when it comes to making a decision on how he commutes to campus, the advantages of biking to Virginia Commonwealth University outweigh the disadvantages.

“I get to speed, get to break traffic rules, there are no parking tickets, and not having the hassle of finding a parking space,” said Williams, a cyclist and student at VCU.

Brandon Manley, another cyclist and VCU student agrees.


“It can be nice because you don’t have to worry about finding parking around campus.”


These are some motives people choose to bike in the city of Richmond and Kimberly Likens Perry, executive director of Bikewalkvirginia.org, presents other reasons.

The Boka Truck Delivers

RICHMOND, Va. – In February Chef Patrick Harris had a vision -- to provide five-star-quality food to the public . 

It's now April, and his business is booming.

Harris has used his experience in the restaurant and catering business to create the 'Boka Truck.' Harris's business is centered around a truck that drives around the Richmond area looking for spots to sell his "fusion-based" food on the street.  A vehicle from which he serves his own personal brand of, what he refers to as, "fusion tacos."

One of the best assets of the truck is that it's mobile. At the same time, he also utilizes Twitter to communicate with his customers. Harris receives personal requests to come to a certain location or regarding potential fusion taco combinations. The manner in which he interacts with customers is both unique and innovative.

When asked about the street food business, Harris remarks that the West Coast has been ahead of the game when it comes to serving food. Also in their interactivity with customers through social media, whether it’s through Facebook or Twitter.

He referred to a San Francisco-based street vending company known as the Kogi BBQ or the Kogi Truck. Kogi BBQ was able to serve street food and utilize Twitter as well. Harris loved the idea, and wanted to bring that concept to the East Coast.

Harris is a trained chef in French, American-Southwest, and French- Asian fusion cuisine. He used what he learned, fused all of the types of food together, and brought it to the streets of Richmond.

In July 2009, Harris came to Richmond when there was an opening for the Executive Chef position at The Water Grill, who is owned by the Richmond Restaurant Group. RRG has also used his services for another one of their restaurants, The Hard Shell.

Harris has an impressive résumé, so why did he choose to create fusion street food? Why should he drive around in a truck in hot weather and serve people on the street?

I spoke to chef Harris to learn more about him and the history behind the 'Boka Truck.'

How Do Students REALLY feel about Valentines Day?

RICHMOND, Va. – Dealing with Valentine’s Day is a lot like a box of chocolates: You never know what you’re going to get.

And like a certain piece of chocolate, you either love or hate this holiday that, according to sources, has existed since 496 A.D.

Such sentiment rings true among several VCU students who admitted to not knowing much about the holiday’s origin, or even caring.

“I have no idea where this holiday comes from, something about St. Valentine,” said Jason Hollandsworth, 22, a student at Virginia Commonwealth University. “It’s just any other day to me.”

First Real Radio Project

I can't believe I posted this. It's my first radio project and we had to do it in NPR style, which is a radio News style for those not familiar with NPR. All interviews and research was conducted by me, then I had to chop up the sound bites and write the script. Its not the best, but give me a break. Its my first time doing anything like this.

Parking Always a Problem Around VCU

RICHMOND, Va. – For Orion Pelausa, struggling to find parking in a city is expected, but living in a city that encompasses an entire university brings even more problems for him.


“It is extremely difficult to park anywhere near my house during the school week,” said Pelausa, a resident of Oregon Hill and student at VCU. “It complicates everything in my daily life, including simple errands.”

Opinion Article on Plagiarism

For many journalists, plagiarizing/fabrication are possibly the worst thing anyone can do. It damages reputation, credibility and you end up jobless. It doesn’t make sense why Stephen Glass and Jayson Blair would do such a thing, especially since they came out of college, being highly touted as the next young up and coming journalists. For both of them, it’s all mental. I believe that Glass got caught up in the high of being looked at as such a great writer that he just wanted to please everyone and be liked by everyone. For Blair, he seemed to be quite lazy and that he noticed that he could get away with a few lies in his story. He probably started to notice how easy it was at first and just kept lying more and more until he was ultimately caught. Same with Glass, except he went further by creating websites and false documents to back himself up. From all that work that Glass put in, he seems more of a pathological liar than Blair. Blair just came off as lazy.

Opinion article on Journalists

For many journalists and reporters, getting that lead to a good story is huge. Some like to take advantage of a story and exploit it for personal benefits or for their company to capitalize on the issue. Some actually care for the well-being of the people/issue they are covering and truly have good intentions. Is the coverage too close? Too little? Are they focusing in the right places? Do they have a personal agenda?

Profile on Mark Doss

RICHMOND, Va. – Mark Doss, sits in his computer chair, swiveling back and forth, staring at me through the lens of his glasses as if it were the lens of a video camera.

For Doss, being behind a camera is nothing new. He has been filming since his freshman year in high school when he was introduced to the Growing Digital Network. GDN is a company that comes to rural areas like Danville to set up broadband Internet and gave rural areas the chance to connect to people worldwide. In addition, it offers summer classes at local community colleges about computers and new technology. Doss was taking classes when GDN mentioned that it needed help in its broadcast department. He figured he could help out, so he agreed to go along. This laid the foundation, got him started, and put the camera into his hands. The job with GDN also is what brought him here to Virginia Commonwealth University.

First post.

Give me a break, this is my first real blog. I couldn't think of anything to name my blog so bare with me. I know its cheezy, but the title "Inside My head" was taken already so I had to spell it a little differently. No, I wasn't trying to be 'edgy' or 'cool' by spelling Inside as 'Encyde'.

I've always wanted to start a blog, but never ended up doing so. I think this can be pretty cool since I'll use this spot to get my thoughts across and post some of my work. Some of my postings will be of class work but others will be about things I like(sports, radio, food, random thoughts). Keep in mind, I'm not the best writer but I am trying to improve. So if you read an article of mine and its not the best, SORRY.

Since this is my first post, I'd like to give you guys a minor introduction of my self. My name is Patrick Arya Rossman. Many of my classmates know me as Patrick(it's easier) but my friends know me as Arya. Call me either, I don't mind. I'll be turning 23 in May and I attend Virginia Commonwealth University here in good ol' Richmond, VA. I'm a junior in the Journalism department and hope to get into broadcasting for Radio or Television.

If you want to know more about me, just follow this blog. I'm sure, you will learn more about me after each post. I hope you enjoy.

So here we go....