Daily Toreador The
FRIDAY, JULY 18, 2014 VOLUME 88 ■ ISSUE 154
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4 plead guilty in Texas sex-trafficking ring HOUSTON (AP) — Four people have pleaded guilty for their roles in a sex-trafficking operation in Houston that used violence to force underage girls and women living in the U.S. illegally into prostitution. The three men and one woman entered pleas during a hearing Thursday in federal court in Houston. Each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens. Investigators say the ring made at least $12.6 million over more than a decade. Odelia Hernandez and Abel Medeles, who are U.S. citizens, are set to be sentenced Oct. 10. Eduardo Guzman Gonzales and Alberto Mendez Flores, both from Mexico, will be sentenced Oct. 17. Each faces up to 10 years in prison. Prosecutors say the four were among 13 people who were arrested last year. A 14th person remains a fugitive.
Israel says it has sent ground troops to Gaza GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP Israeli forces on Thursday launched a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, the military said. The operation came after 10 days of intense fighting between Israel and the Islamic militant Hamas, in which Israel hit more than 2,000 targets in Gaza and Hamas launched nearly 1,500 rockets at Israel. The army said the offensive is meant to strike a “significant blow to Hamas’ terror infrastructure.” It did not say how many troops were involved or provide other details. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he instructed the army to go ahead after Hamas rejected an Egyptian cease-fire plan earlier in the week and after Hamas militants tried to infiltrate into Israel through a tunnel from Gaza earlier Thursday. “In light of the despicable and relentless aggression by Hamas and the dangerous infiltration into Israel, Israel is obliged to protect its citizens,” the statement said.
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Plane shot down over east Ukraine
GRABOVO, Ukraine (AP) — A Malaysia Airlines passenger plane carrying 295 people was shot down over eastern Ukraine on Thursday, Ukrainian officials said, and both the government and the pro-Russia separatists fighting in the region denied any responsibility for downing the aircraft. As plumes of black smoke rose up near a rebel-held village of Grabovo, an Associated Press journalist counted at least 22 bodies at the wreckage site 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Russian border. The Boeing 777-200ER plane, traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, appeared to have broken up before impact and the burning wreckage — which included body parts and the belongings of passengers — was scattered over a wide area. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called the downing an act of terrorism and called for an international investigation into the crash. He insisted that his forces did not shoot down the plane. President Barack Obama called the crash
a “terrible tragedy” and talked about it on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The village of Grabovo is currently under the control of pro-Russia separatists and the area has seen severe fighting between the two sides in recent days. Aviation authorities in several countries, including the FAA in the United States, had issued warnings not to fly over parts of Ukraine prior to Thursday’s crash. Within hours, several airlines, including Lufthansa and KLM, released statements Thursday saying they were avoiding parts of Ukrainian airspace. Malaysia Airlines said Ukrainian aviation authorities told the company they had lost contact with Flight MH17 at 1415 GMT (10 a.m. EDT) about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Tamak waypoint, which is 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border. It said the plane was carrying 280 passengers and 15 crew members. It had left Amsterdam at 12:15 p.m. and was due to arrive at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 6:10 a.m. Friday.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ASSOCIATED PRESS
People inspect the crash site of a passenger plane near the village of Grabovo, Ukraine, Thursday, July 17, 2014. Ukraine said a passenger plane carrying 295 people was shot down Thursday as it flew over the country, and both the government and the pro-Russia separatists fighting in the region denied any responsibility for downing the plane.
Terminally ill alumnus returns home
By CARSON WILSON editor-in-Chief
SPF of 5 instead of 12.5.” Because of the incremental difference, professionals advise those who will be in the sun to use a sunscreen with at least an SPF of 30 to ensure they’re still protected when applying seemingly normal amounts of sunscreen. In addition to sunscreen, there are clothes with sun protectant actually in the fabric and detergents that can wash the sunscreen into the clothes, she said. A normal white t-shirt only has a UV protective factor of four, she said, which decreases to two when wet. By wearing clothes with this UV protection, those who will be out in the sun can ensure they are receiving even greater sun protection, she said.
Texas Tech announced Nigel Bethel would be reinstated into the Tech football program yesterday during a news conference. BETHEL Bethel was dismissed three weeks ago after punching Tech women’s basketball player Amber Battle during a basketball game in the Robert H. Ewalt Student Recreation Center. Stipulations of Bethels reinstatement will require him to miss three games, or 25 percent, of his season. His stipulations are equivalent to Battle’s, which require her to not compete during the entire month of November for her involvement. “This is an unfortunate situation with a unique set of circumstances and there are no winners,” Kirby Hocutt, director of Athletics, said in a Tech Athletics news release. “Every decision related to this case has been the right one at that particular time based upon our principles, student-athlete code of conduct and team rules. As I continued to work with Coach Kingsbury and Coach Whitaker, we looked at the totality of the situation and have arrived at this decision. Two talented young people made a mistake, have shown remorse and learned some very valuable life lessons.” A grand jury cleared him of assault charges for the incident Tuesday, and suggested Bethel be reinstated into the program. Earlier Wednesday, Tech released the video of the incident, which showed both Battle and Bethel in the altercation. Tech women’s basketball coach Candi Whitaker said Battle felt Bethel should not be punished more harshly than her. “I’m relieved that Nigel is receiving a second chance because I believe in second chances,” Battle said in the release. “We were both at fault in this situation and I believe our punishment should be equal. This is a good opportunity for us to learn from our mistakes and I think we both have. Hopefully now we can move forward and focus on helping our teams compete at the highest level.”
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PHOTOS BY JACOB SNOW/The Daily Toreador
ABOVE LEFT: A private plane carrying Joshua Gaines, a terminally ill Texas Tech alumnus, pulls into Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport around 10 p.m. Wednesday. The plane was provided by an anonymous donor to bring Gaines home from Houston to spend time with his family. Gaines died Thursday morning after making it to Lubbock. RIGHT: JOSHUA GAINES is taken away in the ambulance after flying in from Houston. BOTTOM LEFT: MARTY Riggs hugs a family friend after her son, Joshua Gaines, is taken away in a ambulance Wednesday night.
By KAITLIN BAIN Staff Writer
As the sun went down in Lubbock Wednesday night Joshua Gaines arrived home to spend his last days with family. At 11:58 a.m. Thursday, Gaines died at University Medical Center with his family by his side Gaines was a graduate of the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center, and on March 21, 2013, one week
after being matched with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation for Anesthesiology for his residency, was diagnosed with stage four terminal metastatic colorectal cancer, according to a Tech news release. “Where am I supposed to fit the remainder of my medical education if I probably won’t survive to see then end of it?” Gaines asked himself, according to the release. His last wishes, according to the release, were to be able to spend his final days with his family.
This wish was granted by an anonymous Tech donor, who paid the private plane expenses to fly Gaines from Houston to Lubbock to be treated at University Medical Center by Everardo Cobos, a Tech HSC oncologist. Gaines was born in Tennessee, Michelle Gaines, Joshua Gaines’ sister-in-law, said, and did well in school growing up. HOME continued on Page 2 ➤➤
Skin health issues rise with the summer temperatures By KAITLIN BAIN Staff Writer
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Bethel reinstated back into program
Summer brings warmer temperatures, encouraging people to show more skin but also increasing the health issues those who risk greater exposure to the sun’s harmful ultraviolent rays. Michelle Tarbox, assistant professor of dermatology at Texas Tech, said a lot of people use sunscreen during the summer because they know they should, but are not always sure what kind and how much to use. “The most important thing to ensure you’re getting the right kind of protection is to use a broad-spectrum sunscreen that will have both UVA and UVB protection and it is at least 30 SPF to use daily during the summer,” she said. ADVERTISING: 806-742-3384
It is recommended, she said, that those who will be spending time out in the sun apply the sunscreen to all skin areas that will be exposed to the sun, including overlooked areas such as the ears and the part of the hair. A fairly common misconception is that any SPF over 30 does not protect the skin any more than sunscreen right at SPF 30, but she said this is not true. “The way it’s measured in the lab, SPF above 30 only had incremental increase in UV protection, however, sunscreen that is studied in the lab is applied at a thickness that is twice what most people use in normal daily use,” she said. “Now, when you apply half as much, you don’t get half the protection, you actually get the square root of the protection. So, if you’re applying SPF 25 the way it’s applied in real life, you will see an
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