February 13, 2017 • Vol. 58, No. 19
The independent press of Virginia Commonwealth University
NEWS “BratWorst” • 3
SPORTS GW, Davidson • 7
SPECTRUM Underground Railroad • 9
OPINION An Ode to Self Care • 11
FLEXIN’
Rams lock in six straight A-10 wins NICK VERSAW Staff Writer Davidson
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PHOTO BY JULIE TRIPP
VCU picked up its sixth straight win and 20th of the season Saturday as they knocked off the visiting Wildcats of Davidson University 74-60. The win marked an impressive 11 consecutive years the Rams have won 20 games. The deciding factor for the Black and Gold was their ability to limit the Wildcats’ stars, Jack Gibbs and Peyton Aldridge. During the teams’ previous matchup last month, the pair combined for 54 of Davidson’s 69 points in a Wildcats’ win. On Saturday, however, they put up just 33. “The story of the game was we did a much better job on Aldridge,” coach Will Wade said after the game. “That certainly helped us.”
Aldridge, who averages over 20 points-pergame on the season, put up just six Saturday evening. The junior forward was stifled by a revolving door of Rams defenders, including senior forwards Mo Alie-Cox and Jordan Burgess, and junior forward Justin Tillman, leading to a scoreless second half for the Wildcats’ top scorer. “I think switching the bodies and switching the physicality and switching those guys really helped us,” Wade said. “That was a point of emphasis for us.” Davidson Head Coach Bob McKillop praised the Black and Gold trio for the way they were able to shut down his star man. “You saw how Peyton was frustrated,” McKillop said. “2-13 is very uncharacteristic of him. Some of those shots weren’t even close.”
Men’s basketball moved back into a first-place tie with the University of Dayton in the Atlantic 10. A pair of wins last week pushed the Rams’ record to 20-5 overall and 10-2 in conference.
House votes to defund Planned Parenthood
McAuliffe vows to veto anti-sanctuary bills
PHOTO BY JESSICA NOLTE
SARAROSE MARTIN Staff Writer
Demonstrators gathered outside the Federal Courthouse in protest of President Donald Trump’s executive order on Jan. 30. RODRIGO ARRIAZA Contributing Writer Advocates for undocumented immigrants are praising Gov. Terry McAuliffe after his promise to veto Republican-backed legislation prohibiting local governments from becoming “sanctuary cities.” Progress Virginia and New Virginia Majority, which advocate for the rights of undocumented immigrants, criticized bills passed by the House and Senate on party-line votes this week. The bills state that localities must not restrict the enforcement of federal immigration laws and must cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The governor’s spokesman, Brian Coy, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that McAuliffe would veto any measure forcing localities to enforce federal immigration laws. Coy said the governor views the bills as “attempts to divide and demonize people.” Tram Nguyen, co-executive director of New Vir-
ginia Majority, praised that statement. “In the face of attempts from D.C. to divide our communities, it’s more important than ever that we celebrate diversity and remain open and welcoming to immigrants,” Nguyen said. “People come to America from around the world to seek a better life and flee war, persecution, poverty and so much more. Thank you to Gov. McAuliffe for standing up for every Virginian and pledging to veto these outrageous attacks.” McAuliffe vowed to veto two immigration-related bills: HB 2000, sponsored by Del. Charles Poindexter, R-Franklin County, would prohibit any city in the state from declaring itself as a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants. Sanctuarycities like New York City, Chicago and San Francisco have promised not to cooperate with ICE in detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants. The House passed the bill, 66-33,on Tuesday.
SB 1262, sponsored by Sen. Richard Black, R-Loudoun, would make a sanctuary city liable for “tortious injury to persons or property caused by an illegal alien within such locality.” The Senate approved the measure, 21-19, on Monday. In defense of his bill, Black said that he believes sanctuary policies serve as a “shield” for undocumented criminals. “Under this bill, if you have a jurisdiction that’s deliberately gone out to harbor whatever murderers, robbers, drunk drivers — people who are subject to deportation by federal immigration law, and they set up a shield for them to avoid federal law — then the victims who suffer from that policy will have the opportunity to be reimbursed by that locality,” Black said. Democratic Sen. Richard Saslaw of Fairfax County disputed Black’s statement. “The reference that all these counties are harboring all these murderers and armed robbers and rapists and the variety — implying that basically that’s what un-
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The House of Delegates voted Tuesday to defund Planned Parenthood despite protests by women’s rights advocates on the Capitol grounds and in the House chamber. On a 60-33 party-line vote, the House approved HB 2264, which would cut off federal Title X funding for Planned Parenthood and any other groups that perform abortions in Virginia. The organization says loss of the funding would “significantly undermine” services at its five clinics in the state. About a dozen protesters lined the sidewalk at Capitol Square on Tuesday morning as legislators walked from the General Assembly Building to the state Capitol. They held signs declaring “I Stand with Planned Parenthood” and “Stop the War on Virginia Women.” Later, wearing T-shirts that spelled out “We are watching,” the demonstrators sat in the first row of the gallery overlooking the House floor to urge delegates to vote against the bill. The protesters represented such groups as Progress Virginia, NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia, the Virginia Latina Advocacy Network, the Virginia Civic Engagement Table and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia. Planned Parenthood’s clinics in Richmond, Hampton, Virginia Beach, Charlottesville and Roanoke mostly provide cancer screenings, family planning services, contraceptive counseling, and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, according to the organization. Nationally, Planned Parenthood says, abortions makes up about 3 percent of the group’s services. In Virginia, Planned Parenthood clinics provide contraceptive care to thousands of low-income women each year, according to Anna Scholl, executive director of Progress Virginia. She said most Virginians agree that a woman who has decided to terminate a pregnancy should have access to safe and affordable abortion services. “The activism we saw today at the state Capitol is a clear sign that women care deeply about threats to their reproductive freedom,” said Tarina Keene, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia. “In voting to defund Planned Parenthood, legislators are subverting the will of the people and endangering health and the lives of thousands of Virginia women for purely ideological and political reasons. It’s shameful.” The Family Foundation of Virginia, which opposes abortion rights, applauded passage of the bill. Josh Hetzler, who serves on the foundation’s legislative council, noted that nationwide, Planned Parenthood performed almost 324,000 abortions in 2014. —continued on page 3