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TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 2019 VOLUME 93 ■ ISSUE 55

LA VIDA

SPORTS

Students make history at Big 12 Conference on Black Student Government.

Texas Tech baseball’s Dylan Neuse breaks out of slump.

Column: Saving the Earth, one recycled straw at a time.

OPINIONS

ONLINE

INDEX

Check out our coverage of the Transfer of Reins ceremony on our website.

PG 5

PG 6

PG 4

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LA VIDA SPORTS OPINIONS CROSSWORD CLASSIFIEDS SUDOKU

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South Plains Wildlife Rehabilitation Center rescues local animals

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By AKHILA REDDY L a Vida Editor

ne evening in 1986, Carol Lee was approached by a neighbor with a young, injured mockingbird the neighbor’s cat had almost gotten for dinner.

Lee who worked part-time at a veterinary clinic at the time, had never rehabilitated an animal before, but looking at that bird, she made the decision to help.

As a result, more than three decades later, Lee is the founder of the South Plains Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, a nonprofit organization in Lubbock dedicated to local wildlife.

“I’ve often told people if that bird died, I probably wouldn’t have started the center,” Lee said. “But it was such a neat story. My kids were all still living at home, and the bird, after it was free, it would come back, land on our shoulder and it wanted to come into the safety of the cage at night, and then we’d let it out first thing in the morning, and this went on for 10 days. That was kind of what really started me on this path.”

Today, the mission of the center has grown to be two-fold, Gail Barnes, executive director, said.

One, the staff works to rehabilitate native wildlife and return it back to its native environment. Two, they work to provide environmental education to the community, hosting a junior volunteer program, approximately 110 educational events, a weekly TV segment and other things.

“More and more people are learning about us,” Barnes said. “We have open houses twice a year, and people come here to learn about education and about urban wildlife. We’ve been on Animal Planet and in National Geographic.”

People bring wildlife in to the center or call regarding animals that need rehabilitation, Barnes said. Wildlife need to be cared for at the center to ensure both their safety and the safety of those who find them.

The range of animals and issues seen at the center are diverse, Barnes said.

The center cares for mammals, raptors, songbirds, reptiles and more. Reasons for admission include injuries from falling out a nest, being hit by cars, being poisoned, being attacked by other animals, being orphaned.

“We can’t save them all, but we admit over 3,200 wildlife species each year, and each year the number rises and so do our number of interns we take up, not only from Texas Tech but other colleges,” Barnes said.

Looking at the center today and the number of wildlife species it sees, Lee said she never could have envisioned it growing to the size it has. Initially, she did not even have any sense that her decision to nurse the mockingbird was going to grow beyond her kitchen, she said.

Following her successful rehabilitation of the mockingbird, she continued to save animals and care for them in her own home, she said.

“Pretty soon I had birds all over my house and I was getting squirrels and I was getting bunnies, and I realized pretty early on you have to have a state license to take care of birds and mammals, and if you’re going to take care of birds, you also have to have a federal license,” she said.

Lee took the step to obtain those licenses and formally established the South Plains Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in 1988 as a non-profit 501(c)3 organization, she said.

SEE WILDLIFE, PG. 3 SARAH VECERA-KING/The Daily Toreador

The South Plains Wildlife Rehabilitation Center houses and rehabilitates local wildlife including raptors, songbirds, mammals and more. The South Plains Wildlife Rehabilitation Center hosted an open house for the public on Saturday, April 6, 2019.

TRACK & FIELD

CAMPUS

Oduduru takes 2019 world leads in Waco Alumni Association adds ring tradition

By GABRIELLE TAITE Staff Writer

In a single hour, junior Divine Oduduru, a Texas Tech track standout, gained two 2019 world leads in the 100m and 200m.

He accomplished this feat at the Michael Johnson Invitational on Saturday, April 20, in Waco.

Oduduru became the first Red Raider to run a sub-10 in the 100m at 9.94 seconds, according to Tech Athletics. He later went on to run the second fastest 200m in collegiate history at 19.76s.

Tech head coach Wes Kittley, who has been coaching track and field for over three decades, said he has never seen anything like Oduduru’s performances in all his years of coaching.

“It was the most impressive thing I’ve seen as a coach,” Kittley said, according to Tech Athletics.

Oduduru’s performances in the 100m and the 200m come in the hopes of landing a top spot at next month’s NCAA West Preliminary, according to Tech Athletics. He also hopes to improve his No. 6 national time.

These records also make him the ninth Nigerian to ever run sub-10 in the 100m, and the second to go sub-20 in the 200m, according to Tech Athletics.

Oduduru said these records are the results of a lot of hard work and practice with Tech sprint and hurdles coach Calvin Robinson.

“I want to say thank you to coach Robinson for getting me to this point in my life and my career.

We have a great team, and I want to say thank you to everyone for their love and support,” Oduduru said, according to Tech Athletics. “(Sprints are) something we do in practice. We run, time the rest, then come back and run another race. (Robinson) said to just run it the way I do in practice.”

Oduduru is now one of 122 sprinters in history to have broken the 10-second barrier in the 100m, and one of only 72 sprinters who have gone sub-20 in the 200m, according to Tech Athletics. Oduduru doing both within an hour timespan is unheard of.

Robinson said Oduduru was just doing what he normally does in practice.

“Run, rest and run again,” Robinson said, according to Tech Athletics. “It’s exactly what we do in practice. We came here with the mentality of getting work in, and we got it done.”

The Red Raiders will return home on Friday, April 26, for a one-day home meet where Oduduru hopes to break even more records.

Additionally, the senior awards recognition ceremony will take place at 4:30 p.m. before the meet starts at 5. @GabbyTaiteDT

By ADÁN RUBIO News Editor

In addition to receiving a ring to commemorate their time at Texas Tech, students also can take part in a new tradition honoring their successes.

The Tech Alumni Association hosted a procession at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, April 22, from the McKenzie-Merket Alumni Center to the Tech Administration Building Bell Tower to carry this spring’s Official Tech Class Rings. At the end of the procession, the Victory Bells were rung over the rings to honor the recipients’ academic achievements.

Members from the TTAA, ring recipients, family members of recipients and Saddle Tramps took part in the procession.

TTAA President and CEO Curt Langford said the Tech Ring Ceremonies have been

growing every year. He said the TTAA staff wanted to take the tradition to the next level.

“The bells have rung for our athletic victories forever,” he said. “When somebody earns the right to wear that Texas Tech ring, that’s an academic victory. The idea here is for the bells to ring in honor of our recipients.”

In the future, Langford said he anticipates this new tradition to continue. He also anticipates more students to take part in future years.

“This will be part of the story, and more and more people will be involved in this as this tradition continues to grow,” he said. “This is the first time the rings have been through this process.”

For ring recipients, Langford said it is momentous to be a part of the history of this new tradition.

SEE CLASS RINGS, PG. 2

IVÁN SANTIAGO BRAVO/The Daily Toreador

Junior Divine Oduduru (right) leads the 60 meters dash at the Texas Tech Shootout track meet on Friday, Feb. 8, 2019, in the Sports Performance Center. Oduduru took the 2019 world lead in the 100m and 200m on April 20, in Waco.

ADÁN RUBIO/The Daily Toreador

Texas Tech Alumni Association staff and official Tech Class Ring recipients took part in a procession to transport class rings on Monday, April 22, 2019, from the McKenzie Merket Alumni Center to the Administration Building Bell Tower.

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CAMPUS

RISE gathers donations for Women’s Protective Services

By EMMA SIPPLE Staff Writer

With April being Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Texas Tech Risk Intervention and Safety Education (RISE) is hosting a donation drive throughout the month. The donations of toiletries and baby supplies will go to Women’s Protective Services.

Kelsey Lueck, violence prevention and peer education program manager, said RISE is the main department at Tech that promotes Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

“This is my second year putting it on at Texas Tech, but I believe we have done this for at least two years before that,” she said. “Traditionally, there are events that go on for the whole month.”

“What Were You Wearing Lubbock?” and Take Back

CLASS RINGS CONTINUED FROM PG. 1

“Your rings have been through the factory, and they’re here in this box, and this is your special moment,” Langford said. “The Alumni Association looks so forward to presenting the rings to all of you who will be receiving them this week.”

In addition to the TTAA, Saddle Tramps also helped initiate this new tradition.

the Night are other events Lueck said took place during April. She said the drive shows how Tech is involved in the community.

“Our students are not just traditionally college-aged.

We also have people who have been part of the Lubbock community already who utilize Women’s Protective Services, as well as students in that age range of 18 to 24 who utilize it,” she said. “The donation is a collaboration between our city and as well as our university and knowing that advocacy and caring about women goes beyond college sexual violence. It goes beyond, and we care about it.”

The goal of the drive is to collect items for the summertime, Lueck said.

“The purpose of this drive is to be able to collect items for WPS that they need,” Zachary Schuhmann, a sophomore communication studies major from Georgetown and Saddle Tramps member, said participating in events, whether it be carrying the rings into the bell tower or ringing the bells over the Tech rings, are ways Saddle Tramps supports the university.

“I love it,” he said regarding the new tradition.

“It’s a new thing to kind of spice things up. Here, we’re always looking for new traditions here at Texas Tech

ADÁN RUBIO/The Daily Toreador

Texas Tech Risk Intervention and Safety Education is collecting donations for Women’s Protective Services during April. One of the donation locations is in the Military and Veterans Programs office in Drane Hall 147. she said, “as well as to just make sure they are able to provide items for the women and children who stay in their homes and providing awareness that these outside resources exist.”

Towels, pillow cases, baby wipes and diapers are just some items Lueck said are for the women and children who come through the shelter.

Steven Garcia, coordinator of regional outreach at

University to kind of solidify us as one of those top tier universities.”

Unlike some universities, Schuhmann said Tech is unique, as it has a bell tower that can be utilized during events, such as the procession.

“To put it to use with the rings that we’re going to bring up there is kind of an honor,” he said.

In the future, Schuhmann said he wants the ring procession to be an event more people participate in and the university continues.

“I hope it becomes a bigger thing in the future,” Schuhmann said. “I hope there’s all sorts of people out here.

Hopefully, we can get it going and see where it goes from there.”

For some students, this procession could be a tradition that marks a moment in one’s time at Tech.

Stacey Cain, a senior

communications and political science major and ring recipient from Lytle, said it is exciting to be part of this procession.

“I think it’s exciting to be part of our school’s history,” she said. “A lot of students have a lot of pride in our school. So, I think it’s very interesting and very special for us to be a part of it.”

Before her mother convinced her to get a class ring, Cain said she was not going to get one. She said her mother told her how the ring represents the hard work that was put in during her four years at Tech.

“Getting to college was a frightening battle,” she said. “It’s something that took a lot of strength and, I think, courage because not everyone thinks they can go to college.”

With this procession becoming a tradition, Cain said the university can celebrate

WPS, said even though WPS is a domestic violence shelter, women and children are taken care of as if they were in a hotel.

“Women stay here from one night up to six months,” he said. “So, the items we ask for are mainly toiletries. The women use them, and often they will take them with them when they leave, and we can have up to 100 people in here at any time.”

In addition to the getting a variety of donations, Lueck said she would be happy with 50 to 100 items for the first donation drive.

“I think that at the end of April, it will be helpful as people are cleaning out their residence halls,” she said.

“I hope that as students are picking up their rooms and start thinking about moving out, they are able to donate some of their items, or as

they go on their shopping trips, pick something up.”

For those with donations, Lueck said they can drop them off at RISE in Drane Hall Room 217, the Tech University Career Center in the Wiggins Complex and the Robert H. Ewalt Student Recreation Center.

“You don’t have to wait for collection sites to be able to donate,” Lueck said. “You should be able to visit their site online and be able to see when other donation drives are happening in the city or what they might need.”

Checking the social media feeds and looking online are ways Lueck said one can look for needed items.

“Anything helps and counts,” Lueck said. “Anything that helps our city, the women in our city, the children in our city is wonderful.” @EmmaSippleDT

ADÁN RUBIO/The Daily Toreador

Raider Red and Saddle Tramps members ride in the back of the truck leading the ring procession on Monday, April 22, 2019, from the McKenzie Merket Alumni Center to the Administration Building. the academic achievements that occur on campus.

“We study very hard for four years,” Cain said. “I

think it’s an honor. I think it’s something that we should appreciate more." @AdanRubioDT

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Trump Fed choice steps aside, another faces new doubts WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's ef-

forts to reshape the Federal Reserve stumbled on Monday, with

one of his potential nominees for the Fed's board withdrawing from consideration and another being enveloped by fresh doubts.

Herman Cain, a former CEO of Godfather's Pizza, asked to be taken out of the running for an influential post at the U.S. central bank, Trump tweeted. Cain had dropped out of the 2012 presidential race after facing allegations of sexual harassment and infidelity — issues that resurfaced after Trump said earlier this month that he planned to nominate Cain for the Fed. Trump tweeted that "My friend Herman Cain, a truly

wonderful man, has asked me not to nominate him for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board.

I will respect his wishes."

Separately, CNN on Monday unearthed opinion columns that Trump's other pick for a Fed board vacancy, conservative commentator Stephen Moore, wrote in the early 2000s. Among the opinions Moore asserted in those columns was that women should be barred from refereeing, announcing or even selling beer at men's college basketball games. Those writings appeared on the conservative National Review website.

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CAMPUS

LA VIDA

Page 3 Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Lee’s rodeo accomplishments stem from passion for sport

By MABEL SODEINDE Staff Writer

At the tender age of six, Swaize Lee rode a horse for the first time on her family’s farm in Brownfield. Fifteen years later, she is now a decorated rodeo champion representing Texas Tech’s Rodeo team.

Lee has been competing for the team for the past year.

At the Ranger College Rodeo competition in Sweetwater, she swept up three of the competition’s most distinguished awards.

She won first place in the breakaway challenge beating her fastest personal time, placed in the short go competition — an event in which the top 10 fastest times compete — and placed third in the overall competition.

Lee’s accomplishments extend further. In high school, she was a state finalist at the Texas High School Rodeo Competition. She also placed ninth at the World Series of Team Roping competition.

Katherine Barrington, a sophomore industrial engineering major from New Home, is also a barrel racer and breakaway roper for the Tech Rodeo Team. Barrington said she and Lee had competed in rodeo throughout high school and she was ecstatic to find out Lee would be competing at the college level because of her stellar roping skills.

“When she came to Tech,

WILDLIFE

CONTINUED FROM PG. 1 Lee said at the time, she was alerted to the growth and necessity of the center when she received a call about a falcon in Levelland even before she had obtained the permit.

“I thought if people in Levelland have my name, how many other people have my name?

Because I heard so many people say, ‘Thank God you’re here,’ because you know they feel for these little creatures that get hurt or get rained on or get hailed out of their nest or whatever, and I think that’s probably one of the big top reasons that we’ve been so successful is that people have a plan to bring wildlife.”

Lee continued to run the center almost independently for the next couple of years, she said, until she visited Tech in 1990, beginning a still-existing partnership that sees students from Tech intern at the center.

Emily Newsom, a senior biology major from Houston, is currently an intern at the center. Tech has special topic classes where students can research or intern at places and receive class credit.

She heard about the program from her adviser and from former students who had interned and had only positive things to say, she said.

“I thought what a fun way to get your last few hours at Texas Tech when you’re about to graduate,” she said.

Interning has been an amazing learning experience, she said. It is one thing to learn about animals in class and another to experience them in real life, learning how they react, their personalities and more.

Her favorite parts of the internship are the connections she has made with animals, she said. They all have their own vibrant personalities.

“It’s like getting to know people, you know, and you get to know them,” she said.

Other students should take advantage of the opportunity, Newsom said.

Previous interns have been students from the meat lab at Tech, students studying art and a range of other majors, Lee said. Students who have called the center and said they are interested are directed to staff and faculty at Tech to set up the internship.

The work the interns do alongside the volunteers is essential to the center, Barnes said. The center, aside from one paid manager and intern, is run without pay.

“We’re very unique in how we operate on donations and volun-

there has been a definite difference in our ability to get points as a team, because we have someone that can compete in three events.” Barrington said. “I don’t think there are any other girls that compete in three events that I can think of.”

Kimberly Luco, a sophomore agricultural economics major from Decatur and vice president and breakaway roper for the team, said Lee’s winnings in Sweetwater greatly impacted the team’s chance of competing for the national championship in Casper, Wyoming.

“She always shows up to help and always has a really good attitude, always willing to let people come up to her house to practice,” Luco said.

“She is always really willing and friendly to everybody.”

Lee credits her accomplishments and passion for rodeo to her dad’s introduction of the sport to her at the age of six. She said at first, she was more interested in riding the horses her grandparents gifted her as fast as possible.

“All I wanted to do was go fast, and my dad was like, ‘Swaize, you can’t just ride these horses as fast as you can everywhere, like you’ve got to do something productive with it,’” she said. “So he was like ‘OK, do you want to start rodeoing?’ and I was like, ‘I don’t even know what that is, but sure.’”

Thus began the start of

many playdates and lessons on roping and the rodeo, she said. Since then, she has been training hard almost every day and competing with her two horses, Missy and Speedy.

Aside from her passion for rodeo, Lee is also a sophomore history major with the goal of one day teaching high school history and attending graduate school. She currently takes 17 credit hours alongside practicing and competing with her team five weekends a semester.

Balancing it all is difficult, she said.

“It’s hard because I usually try to do all of my homework for that week before I leave for the rodeo, and then you’re rodeoing all day long everyday Thursday through Saturday,” she said. “There is hardly any time to take a breather.”

Sometimes when her homework is incomplete, Lee said she has to find the closest McDonald’s with internet to complete it.

Apart from the pressure

teers unlike other centers,” she said. “So when people donate, the money does go the animals.”

In the many years she worked at the center prior to her retirement, Lee said she has never taken a salary for the extensive work she put in, notably the time spent taking care of baby birds during the summer, in which they had to be fed all day.

“I was on my feet 15 hours a day, seven days a week, and I almost never had time off unless I literally had a bird sitter to come to feed birds,” she said.

The one thing driving her was her love for the work, she said.

“The only thing that moti-

vates you is the love of working with wildlife,” Lee said, “because people think of animals as dogs and cats and furry bunnies and little chicks and ducklings, and they don’t think about the wild owls and hawks and falcons and backyard birds, and also the ground squirrels.”

As the city continues to grow, it is important for the South Plains Wildlife Rehabilitation Center to continue the work it is doing, Barnes said.

“There’s so much we can learn from these animals and they’re part of our ecosystem, and they play a very important part in our ecosystem,

and we need to learn to all coexist with wildlife as we encroach on their habitat,” Barnes said. “That’s one of the things we like to teach.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF SWAIZE LEE

Swaize Lee rounds a corner during the barrel racing event. Lee, a member of the Texas Tech Rodeo team, started riding horses when she was six and has grown into a championship-winning rider.

@AkhilaReddyDT

SARAH VECERA-KING The Daily Toreador

A visitor pets one of the rescued birds at the Southwest Wildlife Rehabilitation Center on Saturday, April 6, 2019.

of a rigorous academic schedule, Lee said the rodeo comes with its own stressors.

“The toughest part about rodeo is the ups and downs, it’s a roller coaster ride through and through. Anything can happen,” she said.

“My horse can get hurt, or I could just draw a really bad calf or steer, and the ground could be bad or anything and my horse falls down. It’s just the little things you can’t control. The mental game I guess is the toughest thing.”

Lee, however, put a positive spin on the mental game.

“At the same time, that’s the most rewarding, when you can say, ‘Ok, that part’s behind me. I can still go and win this next event,’” she said.

Although rodeo is a maledominated sport, Lee said her teammates’ support raises her confidence as a woman competing in the sport.

“I just recently started team roping (co-ed competition) like five years ago, and so that’s been really neat to see how guys treat girls, and for the most part, they’re really supportive and they’re like you know, ‘You rope really good’ or ‘You rope like a dude,’” she said. “That’s kind of the feedback I’ve gotten.”

While her experience has been positive in the sport, Lee said she understands it is still hard for women to participate.

“I do know that sometimes if you’re a girl that ropes good, the guys don’t like that, because they don’t want you to out rope them in their own sport,” she said.

While she is still only competing at the college level currently, Lee said she foresees a future in rodeo.

“I guess I would like to at some point get my pro card and maybe eventually hit some pro rodeos and try to make my rookie year like really good,” she said. “I just have to save some money and get some horses lined up.” @DailyToreador

OPINIONS

Page 4 Tuesday, April 23, 2019

CARTOON

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Saving Earth, one recycled straw at a time

W

e’ve all heard about the steps people are taking to combat global warming. We’ve all heard about the reduction of plastic straws.

Starbucks has started a movement. We know that we need to change, but why has it taken the endangerment of various species for us to recognize our faults?

According to plasticoceans.org, more than 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into the ocean every year. This means trash not only is dumped where it does not belong, but also has a way to travel across the world.

An article published by the BBC reveals microplastics have been found in places as remote as Antarctica.

We know dumping our trash on the ground is wrong and we should recycle, but why are we still facing this

Madilynn Sheffield is a freshman advertising major from Amarillo.

problem? Why are we continuously faced with these horrible realities and almost forced into change?

In the past year, awareness for plastic waste has increased immensely. We have seen the movement of saving the sea turtles from plastic straws that has inspired many people to go straw free.

Studies have shown businesses that switch to more eco-friendly products can actually save money. Still, we often find businesses use more plastic, which still ends up all over the world.

Maybe it has less to do with the fact that businesses don’t offer non-recyclable

materials, but rather don’t offer recycling for the material they already use.

If I go to a business that doesn’t offer receptacles for separate trash and recycling, it is not as if I will take my plastic water bottle with me to find a place to recycle. We all know we should recycle, but without the option, most of us won’t take the extra step to recycle.

Sometimes we only recycle things we see as good enough for recycling, even though there are plenty of things we could recycle but don’t. A dented can we would throw in the trash, but a can in good condition we would place in recycling, even though both cans are equally recyclable.

This seems like a very strange reason not to do something we all know we should do, but it is evident

many Americans do not recycle, and many people see it as a burden or too complicated. Reports show it may have something to do with the way many businesses put the recycling symbol on their products, even though they may not be recyclable.

Often times we are faced with the dilemma of wanting to recycle but not knowing what exactly goes into the bins. Recycle Now offers some helpful tips on how to get started with your local recycling programs and offers a guide on what exactly can go into the bins.

Many college campuses have recycling receptacles readily available and should be used. This has made the topic even more prevalent for many, including myself, and has made me realize how much recyclable trash I produce.

I realize now how easy it is for me to recycle and just how much of a difference this community can make.

Our college campus is too large to miss out on the opportunity to help the planet.

Taking further initiative by recycling plastic is a great step in the right direction.

Efforts made at Texas Tech could even help the city of Lubbock become even greener. We may be able to expand upon the limited number of items the city can recycle.

Ultimately, it is up to us to make change. Everyday habits can turn into years of progress. We only have one planet, and we are beginning to see what happens if we don’t take care of it. It is up to us to preserve our home, and the homes of the various species of life that also occupy it. @DailyToreador

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Trump called on spy chiefs for help as Mueller probe began WA S H I N G T O N ( A P ) — Two months before special counsel Robert Mueller was appointed in the spring of 2017, President Donald Trump picked up the phone and called the head of the largest U.S. intelligence agency. Trump told Mike Rogers, director of the National Security Agency, that news stories alleging that Trump’s 2016 White House campaign had ties to Russia were false and the president asked whether Rogers could do anything to counter them.

Rogers and his deputy Richard Ledgett, who was present for the call, were taken aback.

Afterward, Ledgett wrote a memo about the

LETTERS The Daily Toreador welcomes letters from readers. Letters must be no longer than 300 words and must include the author’s name,

conversation and Trump’s request. He and Rogers signed it and stashed it in a safe. Ledgett said it was the “most unusual thing he had experienced in 40 years of government service.”

Tr u m p ’s o u t r e a c h t o Rogers, who retired last year, and other top intelligence officials stands in sharp contrast to his public, combative stance toward his intelligence agencies. At the time of the call, Trump was just some 60 days into his presidency, but he already had managed to alienate large parts of the intelligence apparatus with comments denigrating the profession.

Since then, Trump only

signature, phone number, student ID number and a description of university affiliation. Students should include year in school, major and hometown. We reserve the right to edit letters. Anonymous letters will not be accepted for publication. All letters will be verified before they are published. Letters can be emailed to dailytoreador@ ttu.edu or brought to 180 Media and Communication. Letters should be sent in before 3 p.m. to ensure the editors have enough time to verify and edit the submission.

has dug in. He said at a news conference in Helsinki after his 2017 summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin that he gave weight to Putin’s denial that Russia meddled in the 2016 election, despite the firm conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies that it had. “I don’t see any reason why it would be” Russia, Trump said. And earlier this year, Trump called national security assessments “naive,” tweeting “perhaps intelligence should go back to school.”

Yet in moments of concern as Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election got underway, Trump turned to his spy chiefs for help.

The phone call to Rogers on March 26, 2017, came only weeks after then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions had angered Trump by stepping aside from the investigation.

James Comey, the FBI director who would be fired that May, had just told Congress that the FBI was not only investigating Russian meddling in the election, but also possible links or coordination between Moscow and the Trump campaign.

The call to Rogers and others like it were uncovered

by Mueller as he investigated possible obstruction. In his 448-page report released Thursday, Mueller concluded that while Trump attempted to seize control of the Russia

GUEST COLUMNS The Daily Toreador accepts submissions of unsolicited guest columns. While we cannot acknowledge receipt of all columns, the authors of those selected for publication will be notified. Guest columns should be no longer than 650 words in length and on a topic of relevance to the university community. Guest columns are also edited and follow the same guidelines for letters as far as identification and submittal.

investigation and bring it to a halt, the president was ultimately thwarted by those around him.

The special counsel said the evidence did not establish that Trump asked or directed intelligence officials to “stop or interfere with the FBI’s Russia investigation.”

The requests to those officials, Mueller said, “were not interpreted by the officials who received them as directives to improperly interfere with the investigation.”

During the call to Rogers, the president “expressed frustration with the Russia investigation, saying that it made relations with the Russians difficult,” according to the report.

EDITORIALS Unsigned editorials appearing on this page represent the opinion of The DailyToreador. All other columns, letters and artwork represent the opinions of their authors and are not necessarily representative of the editorial board, Texas Tech University, its employees, its student body or the Board of Regents. The DailyToreador is independent of the College of Media and Communication. Responsibility for the editorial content of the newspaper lies with the student editors.

LA VIDA

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APRIL 23, 2019

5

CAMPUS

Students make history at Big 12 Conference on Black Student Government

By MABEL SODEINDE Staff Writer

The Big 12 Conference this semester was a symbolic and historical time for Texas Tech in many ways. Aside from the exemplary performance of the men’s basketball team, two Red Raiders were honored at the 42nd annual Big 12 Conference of Black Student Government in February for their historical accomplishments.

Stephanie Odigie, a senior political science major from Dallas, was awarded the Barbara Jordan Award for leadership and community service, making history as the first student from Tech to win such the award.

Caleb Morris, a junior English major from Arlington, was elected in February as the public relations and secretary chair for the Big 12 Council on Black Student Government, making him the first student from Tech to hold a position on the council.

According to University of Missouri’s Big 12 Legion of Black Collegians website, the Big Eight Council on Black Student Government was created in 1977 to provide black students a forum to discuss similar experiences and problems they had at their individual schools.

The conference grew in 1997 to include four Texas institutions, therein forming the Big 12 Conference. The Big Eight Council of Black Student Government then officially changed its title to the Big 12 Council on Black Student Government.

Although the historical program has been around for over 40 years, Odigie said Tech had only been formally inducted into the council in 2018.

She and Morris said the council had made several attempts to contact Tech to become a part of the conference for several years with no success. In 2017, Morris and other members of the Black Student Association were some of the first black student leaders from Tech to attend the event. Only a year after Tech’s 2018 induction, Odigie and Morris made Tech history with their individual accomplishments.

As a serving member on the Student Government Association, Odigie said one can already see the impact of its historical recognition on the Tech campus. She said not only are more students interested in being a part of the conference, it is bringing more recognition for the Black Student Association.

“It opens a lot of doors for opportunities as well, because we are looking at SGA. When they heard Caleb was on the council, they thought BSA was doing something right,” she said. “That means more SGA money and funding for BSA, because it shows that clearly at least they’re going and bringing something back.

It means more funding for future conferences.”

Morris echoed these thoughts and said for a long time at the university, there has not been many opportunities for black students, so his

AUDREY KERR/The Daily Toreador

Stephanie Odigie (left), a senior political science major from Dallas, and Caleb Morris (right), a junior English major from Arlington, are the first students from Texas Tech to be recognized at the Big 12 Council on Black Student Government and win the Big 12 Black Caucus Award. and Odigie’s awards have, in a way, broken a ceiling to allow more black students to accomplish groundbreaking feats.

“If you don’t know something is there and that an opportunity exists, then there is no way for you to move towards it or achieve it,” he said.

“So, now there are other people that can serve on BSA’s board and aspire to be on the Big 12 Council. It is just another stepping stone to give the black community another voice to make a change on campus.”

Mica Curtis-Wilson is a faculty member and coordinator for the Mentor Tech program on campus. She also served as an adviser for the Black Student Association during its travels to the Big 12 Conference at the University of Missouri in February.

Wilson said the conference was necessary for students to attend because it teaches life skills ranging from money management to navigating life at a predominantly white institution. Wilson praised Odigie for her commitment to community service and Morris’ initiative and role in planning the conference. “‘I think that anytime a student of ours is recognized on a scale that’s larger than our school it is always an achievement. It is truly my pleasure to be able to serve students that are doing something bigger than themselves,” she said.

Odigie plans to attend law school and become a social justice attorney with the goal of working for a firm, she said.

The Barbara Jordan Award

has helped affirm her goals and future plans.

“Since I plan to become a social justice attorney, and I believe Barbara Jordan went to law school and was a big advocate in her community, so I feel like me winning the award made me feel good, because it felt like I was doing something,” she said. “Once I have that law degree, I’m actually going to be doing something to help out the community.”

Morris’ position with the

board will allow him to open doors for the next generation of black students, he said. It will also bolster his future plans in the field of education.

“I love education, and I love kids, so I plan to go and start off teaching when I graduate,” he said. “Get my certification and stuff, teach high school and then work my way up, because eventually I do want to be in the political sphere, because I want to be secretary of education one day.”

The opportunity to be on the council shows how much he cares for his community and those within it, Morris said, which aligns directly with the fundamentals of education. As the public relations officer on the council, he urged Tech to offer more knowledge about opportunities and adequate help to allow more students of color to attend events and conferences, such as these.

“There are all these other organizations that aren’t minority organizations that are going to conferences,” he said. “It should never be put in question should BSA go to the conference, that’s out of the question. It is what should we do to get them there, and what can we do to help them prepare.” @DailyToreador

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tesla gears up for fully self-driving cars amid skepticism SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tesla expects to have full self-driving cars in which humans won’t have to touch the steering wheel around the second quarter of next year.

The company made the announcement during an investor conference at its Palo Alto, California, headquarters Monday, in which it outlined its bold but risky

bid to transform Tesla’s electric cars into driverless vehicles.

CEO Elon Musk told investors that the company’s computer to enable its electric cars to become selfdriving vehicles is powered by the best processing chip in the world.

Tesla had never made its own computer chip before it hired an ex-Apple engineer

three years ago to design it.

Now, Musk boasts the chip is better than any other on the market “by a huge margin.”

Experts say they’re skeptical whether Tesla’s technology has advanced anywhere close to the point where its cars will be capable of being driven solely by a robot, without a human in position to take control if

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Page 6 Tuesday, April 23, 2019

BASEBALL

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Neuse breaks out of slump

By MAX HENGST Staff Writer

ADRIAN ROMERO & IKECHUKWU DIKE/The Daily Toreador

TOP: Sophomore Dylan Neuse hits a ground ball to right field during game one against Stetson on Sunday, March 24, 2019, at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park. BOTTOM: Neuse celebrates following his second home run during game three Texas Tech’s series against Baylor on Saturday, April 20, 2019, at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park. The home run completed Tech’s run-rule win over the Bears.

No. 22 Texas Tech baseball’s sophomore Dylan Neuse was in an offensive slump for a couple of weeks but broke out of it with a standout performance in the series finale against No. 18 Baylor.

Neuse impressed at the beginning of his first season as a Red Raider. After playing in the first 27 games of the season, Neuse posted a .393 batting average to lead the team, including a grand slam in the second game against Kentucky, according to Tech Athletics.

“At the time I knew it was big,” Neuse said following the game against Kentucky. “Of course, I didn’t expect it to happen, so it was just in the moment. It was a good feeling.”

After Neuse exceeded expectations, he began to fall into a slump. In the 10 games before playing in the series finale against Baylor, Neuse only earned four hits in 34 at-bats, according to Tech Athletics. Neuse also ranked second on the team with five home runs, but the last time he sent one out of the park was on March 31 in the series finale against Kansas State.

“I’ve been in a slump a little bit but every game, every at-bat, I’m trying to get out of it,” Neuse said. “I’ve been saying, ‘I’m going to have a

day,’ for a couple weeks now.”

In the final game of the series against Baylor, Neuse earned two hits. The first was a grand slam over the left-field wall to give the Red Raiders an 8-0 lead.

“I was looking for a fastball, I couldn’t look for a better pitch,” Neuse said about what he was looking for in the at-bat where he hit his grand slam. “He threw it right where I wanted to, luckily I was right there. I hit it, I hit it right on the nose. At first, I thought I hit it well enough but then I saw I was pretty low so I had to start running.”

Following his grand slam, Neuse also hit the gamewinning, two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Tech a 13-3 run-rule win against Baylor, according to Tech Athletics.

“My approach has been middle of the way to try and get out of my slump, usually that works but it wasn’t working, so I tried something I never really do,” Neuse said. “I looked middle in, and fortunately they were throwing it. I don’t know if they were missing or hitting their spots, but with my approach, everything matched up and squared some balls up.”

After the weekend series, Neuse was added to the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award Watch List, according to a BBCSA news

release. The list includes some of the top offensive players in the country.

Neuse’s roommate on the road, Braxton Fulford, also had a breakout performance at the plate after struggling recently, as he earned three hits in three at-bats against Baylor.

“With Braxton been going through what he has, that’s big,” Neuse said. “He’s my roommate when we go on the road. Me and him are just trying to get a hit for the room every day, so it was big.”

With two-consecutive wins against Baylor, Tech secured a Big 12 series win 2-1, according to Tech Athletics.

The wins improved the Red Raiders’ overall record to 2513 and conference record 8-7.

“I think these two wins were huge,” Neuse said. “You could see it in the coaches’ faces, they liked it, a big series win, we needed that, especially all the away games not really rallying lately. So, I think being home for 10 games and this series win will help us get on a roll here.”

The Red Raiders will continue their play at home with six-straight home games, starting with a midweek game against New Mexico at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 23, after coming off a three-game series against Baylor at Dan Law Field. @MaxHengstDT

BASEBALL

Neuse, Warren added to Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award Watch List No. 18 Texas Tech baseball’s sophomore Dylan Neuse and senior Cameron Warren were two of 18 players added to the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award Midseason Watch List on Monday.

The watch list includes 48 players form 29 programs across the United States, according to a BBCSA press release. The players on the watch list are a few of the highest-performing batters

in the country, leading the nation in offensive categories such as batting average, hits, runs scored and RBI. “We have been blown away by the acceptance and partnership of the D1 base-

ball programs in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas,” Executive Director Tracy Taylor said, according to the release. “It is truly a tribute to Bobby Bragan’s legacy that these type of young men are part of an award bearing his name.”

This season, Neuse has posted a .326 batting average while racking up 43 hits, 44 runs scored, 36 RBIs and seven home runs, according to Tech Athletics. Neuse leads the Red Raiders with his runs scored.

In the Big 12 conference, Neuse is tied for fourth with his RBI total and ranks tenth for his batting average and home run total this season.

Warren has a .324 batting average while earning 45 hits, 48 RBI, 33 runs scored and nine home runs this season, according to Tech Athletics.

While his batting average places him 12th in the conference, Warren leads the confer-

AUDREY KERR/The Daily Toreador

Senior first baseman Cameron Warren hits the ball during Texas Tech’s second game of the series against Baylor on Friday, April 19, 2019, at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park. He and Dylan Neuse were added to the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award Midseason Watch List after the series against the Bears. ence with his RBI total and is tied for third in home runs.

With Neuse and Warren being added on to the midseason watch list, Tech now has three players competing for the award as junior Josh Jung was placed on the list in

the preseason.

The finalists for the BBCSA will be announced in May and the ultimate winner of the award will be named in June and honored at a gala in the fall. @MaxHengstDT

AP

Jury selections begins in NCAA trial NEW YORK (AP) — Jury selection began Monday in the trial of an aspiring agent and a former amateur coach charged with bribing big-school coaches to boost their business prospects with amateur basketball players.

The trial of business manager

Christian Dawkins and ex-amateur league director Merl Code began when U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos presided over the swearing-in of several dozen prospective jurors in Manhattan.

The trial is the second of three resulting from arrests

made 19 months ago, when prosecutors described a widespread bribery scheme in which financial advisers and business managers allegedly paid assistant coaches and athletes’ families to steer players to bigprogram schools.