Daily Toreador The
MONDAY, JAN. 27, 2014 VOLUME 88 ■ ISSUE 77
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Tech professor weighs in on brain-dead woman By AMY CUNNINGHAM Staff Writer
Friday, a Fort Worth judge ruled for a Tarrant County hospital to remove life support from a brain-dead, pregnant woman by Monday afternoon, according to an Associated Press article. Jennifer Bard, Alvin R. Allison Professor of Law, Director of Health Law Program and adjunct professor in the Department of Psychiatry and in the Texas Tech School of
FORT WORTH (AP) — A braindead, pregnant Texas woman’s body was removed from life support Sunday, as the hospital keeping her on machines against her family’s wishes acceded to a judge’s ruling that it was misapplying state law. Marlise Munoz’s body soon will be buried by her husband and parents, after John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth announced it would not fight Judge R.H. Wallace Jr.’s Friday order to pronounce her dead and return her body to her family. The 23-week-old fetus she was carrying will not have a chance to be born. The hospital’s decision Sunday brings an apparent end to a case that became a touchstone for national debates about the beginning and end of life, and whether a pregnant woman who is considered legally and medically dead should be kept on life support for the sake of a fetus. Munoz’s husband, Erick Munoz, sued the hospital because it would not remove life support as he said his wife would have wanted in such a situation. Erick and Marlise Munoz worked as paramedics and were familiar with endof-life issues, and Erick said his wife had told him she would not want to be kept alive under such circumstances.
Because the judge ruled against the hospital, Bard said the case will likely spark conversations for potential change in laws across the nation. “A lot of states have statutes like this,” Bard said. “It’s not unusual. I think there’s going to be a discussion about if these statutes work and if they think that people want them. I think it’s going to spur public discussion.”
Texas Tech cheer alumni make coed Team USA cheer squad By DIEGO GAYTAN
ship will be held at the Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla., and will begin on April 24 and end on April 25, according to the ICU There are few people that have the op- website. portunity to represent the United States in an Six days prior to the competition, Drake and international competition. Lyday will fly to Orlando and practice with the Kymber Drake, a senior public relations rest of the Team USA coed cheer team. major from New Braunfels, and Tanner Lyday, Drake said after months of not seeing the rest a senior exercise and sport sciences major from of the Team USA coed team, she and Lyday will Lewisville, were chosen to be part of the Team have only six days to practice and learn the rouU S A coed cheer team. tines that will be performed at the championship. Drake and Lyday, along “We are expected to show to practice, give it with cheerleaders from across our all, and represent USA,” Drake said. the nation, attended tryouts During their time at Tech, Drake and Lyday for Team USA on Jan. 20, at were one of the first two couples in Tech Cheer Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports to be chosen in 2012 to compete in the Coed in Orlando, Fla. Partner Stunt Competition at the Universal Drake said many Cheerleaders Associaof the cheerleaders at tion, according to a Tech the Team USA tryouts website. It is a were collegiate cheerCheering at Tech leaders that came from in the cheer world. You helped Drake and Lyday elite cheerleading backgain experience and prewant to be at an grounds. pare them for their try“ We d i s p l a y e d level of cheerleading.” outs for Team USA, both stunts and tumbling Drake and Lyday said. skills,” Lyday said, “and Kymber Drake The support Drake they selected a team CHEERLEADER had from her teammates that afternoon based on and coaches at Tech USA COED TEAM our tryouts.” helped her develop her The Team USA cheering abilities imcoed cheer team competes in the International mensely, she said. Cheer Union World Cheerleading Champion“We all learned from each other,” Drake ship every year against other coed cheer teams said. “It was a great experience to get to where from other nations, according to the Cheer I am today.” USA website. Lyday said cheering at Tech was an overall “It is a statement in the cheer world,” great experience. Drake said. “You want to be at an elite level of “There is nothing like cheering at a Big 12 cheerleading.” football game in front of 60,000 fans,” Lyday said. The ICU World Cheerleading Champion- ➤➤dgaytan@dailytoreador.com Staff Writer
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PHOTO COURTESY OF KYMBER DRAKE
OPINIONS, Pg. 4
Opinions May Vary: Raising minimum wage
However, the hospital stated it had the legal responsibility to protect the fetus, according to the article. “There’s a law that says you can’t remove any kind of life-sustaining care from a pregnant woman,” Bard said, “and another law that allows someone to be declared dead if someone loses all brain function. There’s nothing that says how those two laws work together.” The judge declared the hospital misinterpreted the law, according to the article.
Cheer up
Family: Brain-dead Texas woman off life support
Gleinser vs. Reynolds
Medicine, said the case is a human tragedy. The case revolves around Marlise Muñoz, a woman who was 14 weeks pregnant when she collapsed in her kitchen Nov. 26 from a possible blood clot, according to the article. Her husband, Erick Muñoz, asked John Peter Smith Hospital to remove his wife from life support after she met clinical standards for being brain dead, which Texas law states as a legal and medical death, on Nov. 28, according to the article.
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Army Tuition Assistance changes affect Tech students By TAYLOR LYNN Staff Writer
The Army Tuition Assistance program is popular among members of the military paying for their school expenses. A recent change in the eligibility policy has affected students at Texas Tech who depend on the funding to cover tuition costs. Pfc. Sean Soria has been in the National Guard for almost two years. He said he had to pay $4,328 out of pocket because of the changes, and has volunteered for an active-duty deployment because of the extra costs this semester. “Because of the costs,” he said, “I told my sergeant I want to volunteer for a deployment as soon as I can.” Part of the policy change that took effect Jan. 1, now requires soldiers to be out of Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training for one calendar year before becoming eligible to receive tuition assistance, according to an Army news release. Before this change, as soon as soldiers enlisted in their respective branch, they were eligible for tuition assistance. Another change in the new policy limits the number of semester hours a soldier can take each year, according to the release. There is a cap set at 16 credit hours per year that soldiers can request funding for. Before the change, soldiers could request funding for 12 credit hours per semester. “We found (the policy) had gotten a little off track from its original intent, which was to provide for soldiers a parttime, off-duty way to continue their education. So we capped it,” Brig. Gen. David. K. MacEwen, adjutant general of the Army, said in the release. “We wanted young soldiers to understand the Army and ensure they’re in good standing before starting TA.” VETERANS continued on Page 2 ➤➤
Texas Tech students receive Gluten-free foods becoming Princeton Review surveys more popular at Texas Tech By KAITLIN BAIN Staff Writer
Baseball begins practicing — SPORTS, Page 6
INDEX Crossword.....................2 Classifieds................5 L a Vi d a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Opinions.....................4 Sports.......................5 Sudoku.......................6 EDITORIAL: 806-742-3393
Texas Tech students received an email Jan. 22 from Tech President M. Duane Nellis with a survey attached from The Princeton Review, enabling students to rank Tech in many different areas. Students fill out the Princeton Review surveys and Princeton Review employees assign rankings for universities based on students’ answers, according to a news release from The Princeton Review. The Princeton Review board decided students were the best people to survey, ADVERTISING: 806-742-3384
David Soto, manager for Princeton Review student surveys, said. “We reach out to those we consider to be college experts,” he said “and those are the currently enrolled college students.” The survey doesn’t only ask questions seen on other competitors’ surveys, he said. “We ask about life on campus, academic, food on campus,” he said, “but we also ask about the things students want to know, like the social scene, professors and the ability to make connections on campus.” PRINCETON continued on Page 2 ➤➤
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By NICOLE BURNETT Staff Writer
College students are becoming more knowledgeable of gluten-free dieting, and the gluten-free craze has sparked an interest among students at Texas Tech. Celiac disease is an intestinal disease that does not allow the human body to digest gluten, which is found in wheat, barley and rye. “When I was 14, no one knew what gluten free was,” Loren Hughes, senior Spanish and human resource management major from Coppell, said. Hughes said she has had celiac all her life but found out at the age of 14 when she continuously
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had stomach pains. Hughes has since been gluten free. “If I have even the slightest bit of gluten,” Hughes said, “I get really sick. It’s pretty severe.” Having celiac can range from having to eat certain foods to requesting special make-ups and toothpaste, Lindsey Ables, a sophomore restaurant, hotel and institutional management major from Shallowater, said about a close friend who developed silent celiac disease. Silent celiac disease can remain dormant for years, and after a tragic event happens, can develop in multiple ranges. DIET continued on Page 2 ➤➤ EMAIL: news@dailytoreador.com