THURSDAY 2.28.19 || MARLINCHRONICLE.VWU.EDU ||
VIRGINIA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
California et al. v. Trump et al. United States of America Dept. of Defense Patrick Shanahan Mark Esper Richard Spencer Heather Wilson Dept. of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin Dept. of the Interior David Bernhardt U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen
Colorado Connecticut Delaware Hawaii Illinois Maine Maryland Michigan Minnesota Nevada New Jersey Nex Mexico New York Virginia Oregon
BY MICKELLA RAST mjrast@vwu.edu
Virginia has joined in a lawsuit with 15 other states to sue President Donald Trump after he declared a national emergency to fund and build a U.S.-Mexico border wall. The lawsuit argues that the President does not have the power to divert funds to build the wall, since Congress controls spending. It further claims that such an act is not within the scope of presidential powers during a national emergency. The suit, California et al. v. Trump et al., was filed in San Francisco’s Federal District Court. The “Plaintiff States” claim to bring the action forth in order to protect their residents, natural resources and
economic interests from the President’s “flagrant disregard of fundamental separation of powers principles engrained in the United States Constitution.” “I think declaring the national emergency was stupid and honestly a huge abuse of power,” senior Benjamin Astrum said. “He even said he could do it without declaring it, it would just take longer,” Astrum continued, referring to Trump’s admission during a conference that the emergency declaration was to hurry the progress of border construction. The lawsuit further charges that “the President has used the pretext of
a manufactured ‘crisis’ of unlawful immigration to declare a national emergency and redirect federal dollars appropriated for drug interdiction, military construction, and law enforcement initiatives toward building a wall on the United States-Mexico border.” “I also would like to see exactly what [the states] are suing for, because in a lawsuit what you say matters. A president hasn’t been challenged with this power because he has always used it legitimately, so no one has thought to challenge it,” Astrum said. Though this is not the first time an
Tennis welcomes Cambodian teammate BY ALEX CORTRIGHT akcortright@vwu.edu
individual state or a group of states has sued the executive administration, it is the first time a president has been challenged by states as a result of a previously-decided funding issue. “What’s rather unique about this case is that it centers around the President trying to do something Congress specifically denied him the funding to do, rather than neglected to act on via legislation,” VWU Associate Professor of Political Science and Chair of the Political Science Department Leslie Caughell said.
SEE LAWSUIT Pg. 2
Sustainability major emerges BY FAITH AUAD fmauad@vwu.edu
Timothy Tep joined the Virginia Wesleyan tennis team this year all the way from Cambodia. Tep grew up in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, with the tennis gene from the multiple athletes within his family. His father, Tep Rithivit has quite the impact on the sport of tennis in his country as he helped bring it back to Cambodia after the Khmer Rouge period and the Cambodian Civil war in 1975. He is now the secretary-general of the Tennis Federation in Cambodia. The federation teaches 12,000 kids for free, half of whom are orphans. His father also won bronze medals and played in the Davis Cup, which is the premier international team event in men’s tennis.
Tep’s grandfather, Tep Khunnah, was also a tennis player. He was one of Cambodia’s best players during the 1960s. In addition to that, Tep’s maternal cousin, named Arnaud Boetsch, reached a singles ranking of World No. 12. Tep was born into tennis, as shown by his family ties. Tep grew up playing other sports such as soccer and racing motorbikes from a young age, but his ultimate passion proved to be tennis. Prior to Virginia Wesleyan, Tep had been to the United States twice. On his second visit, he attended a recruitment camp in Pennsylvania where he met VWU head coach Martin Perry.
SEE TEP Pg. 8
Bethany Walker|Marlin Chronicle Tep started at VWU this semester.
Unregistered pet crack-down on campus BY NICK MUNDY namundy@vwu.edu
Bethany Walker|Marlin Chronicle Luna is Alexi Baumgardner’s companion animal.
There has been a rise of unregistered animals on the Virginia Wesleyan University campus, and these violations can cost students their housing selection. Students can register either service animals or companion animals. Recently, there have been notes posted around campus reminding students that if they have a pet on campus to make sure that they are registered and are allowed to be here. Residence Life is starting to crack down on these violations. Virginia Wesleyan has had the same policy regarding animals for the past four to five years. Residence Life has been finding these animals through numerous ways on campus. There are two different types of ways of getting an animal registered on campus. The first is
as a service animal, which are trained to perform a certain job or task to someone that may need it. This refers to students who have a need for their animal because they have an certain impairment that the animal has been taught to help with. The second type of animals allowed on campus are companion animals, which are defined by the the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals as “domesticated or domestic-bred animals whose physical, emotional, behavioral and social needs can be readily met as companions in the home, or in close daily relationship with humans.”
SEE PETS Pg. 4
Sea level rise is no secret. Coastal Virginia has seen a fourteen-inch rise in sea level since 1950. Norfolk is sinking at an approximate rate of one inch every four years. The sinkage is caused by two main catalysts: groundwater removal and shifts in the tectonic plates under the Earth’s surface. Virginia Wesleyan has long been on the frontlines of environmental action and it’s latest effort to combat sea level rise and other environmental issues may be its bestkept secret: the Sustainability Management degree. The degree is only in its second year of being offered, and merges together aspects of both business and science to give students the much-needed tools to help organizations achieve not only their financial goals, but also increase their environmental sustainability and social responsibility to future generations.
SEE DEGREE Pg. 3
Jam session Student musicians talk about where they go to play together. BY TANI MARTINEZ eamartinez@vwu.edu
Playing alone in your room can be fun on its own, but depending on who you ask, some may say playing with another person or at a store can be way more fun. We explore some of the various places on- and off-campus that you can go to play music.
SEE PARADISE Pg. 9