Million Dollar Designs Tech enriches student experience with latest investments
DINING
Hospitality Services introduces Ol’ Red’s, menu updates
By MARIANNA SOURIALL Editor-in-ChiEf
Ol’ Red’s is Texas Tech Hospitality Services’ latest addition to the Wiggins Complex.
Formerly Sam’s Place West, the renovated dining hall’s name pays tribute to one of Raider Red’s first names, matching the “spirited” interior, said Alan Cushman, Hospitality Services’ associate director.
“It's going to have a full service Chick-fil-A, along with some other really great choices from Mexican food to Italian food, hand-rolled sushi, salads, burgers and Asian food,” Cushman said. “So it's going to really bring a cool variety of dining to that west side of campus.”
There will be various seating options, Cushman said, in addition to late-night hours. Ol’ Red’s will be cashless, excluding Chick-fil-A, and Tech discounts will be offered to those with dining plans.
Cushman said Hospitality Services hopes the hangout spot will build the Red Raider community, serving as a place for students to meet and connect.
Hospitality Services always is trying to match the needs of students, Cushman said, an ideology that prompted the design and menu changes in other dining halls as well.
“We took the opportunity this
summer to also renovate our Chick-fil-A at the Rawls College of Business,” Cushman said. “Students that are over in that area of campus will be able to go in there and kind of see a new look to that Chickfil-A.”
Meanwhile, The Commons at Talkington Hall will have an updated menu, crafted by Tech’s culinary team.
“One of the things that I'm probably the most excited about is Khan’s Mongolian Grill that we'll be opening at The Commons,” Cushman said. “It is an amazing, authentic Asian food location, and it's going to be fantastic.”
Khan’s Mongolian Grill joins the new grilled cheese line and expanded mac and cheese line at Just Say Cheese. The Commons also will serve a new Mexican food lineup on the second floor.
Cushman said Hospitality Services chose to expand and bring in menu options most popular among students.
Hospitality Services uses an annual survey sent to all students to gauge feedback.
“We actually run a student advisory committee throughout the academic year, through Hospitality Services,” Cushman said. “This is a committee that meets once a month, and it's kind of a sounding board where we connect with current students, to kind of see
eat
a full-service
what their wants and what their needs are.”
Hospitality Services’ Instagram, “eatattexastech,” is also a good place to send in feedback, Cushman said.
In addition to building renovations, Hospitality is also
rebranding its commuter dining plan under a new name: the Masked Rider Dining Plan. The dining plan will permit a 15 percent discount for its users.
Cushman said the rebrand will be made available on Hospitality’s Instagram.
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL, ENVIRONMENTAL, CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING
Laboratories
“Hospitality Services is part of Texas Tech University, so we are always trying to reinvest in our dining program and reinvest in our locations to make sure that we are on trend and matching the needs of our student population,” Cushman said.
updated after 50 years for undergraduates
LABORATORY
By MARIANNA SOURIALL Editor-in-ChiEf
The Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering completed a $1.4 million undergraduate lab renovation over the summer.
With the renovated lab spaces, department chair Andrew Jackson said each undergraduate program will have its own lab to mitigate crowding and sharing of labs.
“They're all getting new floors, the walls are being repainted, new lights, because the lights were literally 50-year-old lights,” Jackson said.
The sheetrock that used to enclose the space has been replaced with glass, enabling visitors to see what is happening in the labs.
Jackson said he also hopes the redesign will make students feel like they’re in a modern working environment.
An additional $500,000 went into lab equipment, Jackson said.
“The equipment is going to be all new, modern equipment,” Jackson said. “They're going to be able to get hands-on experience on modern engineering tools, and hopefully these labs reinforce the theories they learn in class.”
When designing the labs,
Jackson said the needs of each undergraduate program were taken into consideration.
He said the department also wanted to make the labs as interactive as possible.
“Rather than have an instructor demonstrate something and 20 people watching, we wanted, like, 12 people to be doing the actual experiment, getting their hands on,” Jackson said.
The labs had not been updated in nearly 50 years, Jackson said, and alumni fundraised for 10 years to assist in making this project possible.
Kinesiology, Sport Management revamp learning spaces
By MARIANNA SOURIALL Editor-in-ChiEf
The Kinesiology and Sport Management’s new labs and reconfigured spaces will be available to its students this fall.
As of August, the YSPL Sports Performance Lab (109B) now houses a climate chamber. Inside the climate chamber are running and walking treadmills and an elliptical.
Lumpkin said.
“All you've seen here is over a million-dollar investment by Texas Tech,” Lumpkin said.
Sport Management Department Chair Angela Lumpkin said last year, students could see construction surrounding Room 109B.
Individuals may use the equipment in the climate chamber, and once the room is closed, vitals can be measured as they respond to differing temperatures, or conditions,
Part of Tech’s investment went into a cell culture space for cells to grow and live within the Metabolic Health and Muscle Physiology Laboratory, Lumpkin said.
“The big hood is literally our cell culture hood, and then the
two stacked pieces of equipment are incubators,” said Alexandra Khartabil, an exercise physiology doctoral student from Irvine California. “We house our cells there so that they grow under optimal conditions.”
Additional labs within the college house an anti-gravity treadmill, a phlebotomist station and force platforms for muscle measurement, amongst other
equipment assisting in human scientific study.
Lumpkin said renovations for other areas in the college began in fall of 2023.
In spring of 2024, walls were removed, and equipment was reorganized throughout the new floor plan. With the reconfigured spaces, Lumpkin said, she’s excited to see the rooms full of students.
JACOB LUJAN/The Daily Toreador
Students
at Texas Tech Hospitality Service’s newest dining hall Ol’ Red’s Aug. 21, 2022. Formerly Sam’s Place West, the dining hall features
Chick-fil-A and other restaurants exclusive to Tech.
JACOB LUJAN/The Daily Toreador
An individual sweeps the floors to prepare the laboratory for incoming equipment in the College of Civil Engineering Aug. 21, 2024.
By MARIANNA SOURIALL Editor-in-ChiEf
The 2024-25 Student Government Association executive board is looking to continue last year’s initiatives while also creating a few of its own.
As executive members only serve a one-year term, SGA President Abby Vega said the incoming board assists in progressing the ideals of the campaign before them.
“For example, we have
the Fall Break Initiative from last year that wasn’t able to be completely completed until hopefully the end of this year,” Vega said, “just because they were working with the Faculty Senate in order to try to work through things like band camp or labs.”
Vega said this year, the board will work on completing or furthering initiatives such as Safe Ride, bar safety and providing funding to various student organizations.
The Matador Movement ran under four pillars: health and safety, academics and affordability, infrastructure and transportation and diversity, equity and inclusion.
“Some initiatives under those pillars include expanded mental health support, healthier campus meals, enhanced substance abuse awareness and prevention programs, increased study options, student discounts at local businesses and restaurants, technology
JACOB LUJAN/The Daily Toreador
Students gather around a mural soon to be pasted with pennies at Miracle Pennies College Edition’s Raider Welcome event Aug. 20, 2024. The organization was restructured and reinstated at Texas Tech in February, following its predecessor’s disbandment due to COVID-19. zation that will raise money for and emotionally support local “miracle kids” — kids at the UMC Children’s Hospital who have shared their miracle stories.
By AYNSLEY LARSEN nEws, L a Vida Editor
When Ashleigh Allpass was born, she wasn’t breathing. She said without the hospital staff, her life would have ended.
Now an employee of the
University Medical Center Children’s Hospital, Allpass has revamped and reinstated a Texas Tech organization designed to bring hope and financial support to children in similar situations.
Miracle Pennies College Edition is a nonprofit organi-
“When I watch the stories that they have on the kids, that makes me cry because
access, parking space monitoring system, enhanced pedestrian safety measures, implementation of recycling bins, elevated SGA engagement and cultural celebrations,” Vega said.
More recycling bins is one initiative Vega said she can see happening this year. Additional initiatives the Matador Movement is looking at passing include mobile Raider IDs, increased study areas and campus safety.
“We’re hoping to have
a virtual Raider ID on the Texas Tech app, or have a separate app that has that in order to be able to access the amount that’s on your meal plan, or just simply get into a building, whatever that may look like,” Vega said.
While SGA members are working on their own initiatives, Vega said students are encouraged to attend town halls throughout the year to voice their wants and needs.
Town halls also serve as a space for SGA members and administrative staff to an-
swer student questions.
“We like to say that everyone is a part of student government, because everyone is able to make a difference in their own capacities and work with SGA,” Vega said.
The first SGA meeting will be on Sept. 5.
@MariannaS_DT
I’m just emotional in general,” Allpass said. “But other than that, it’s more like interacting with the kids, making them feel normal rather than that they’re sick.”
The organization expands upon the Children’s Miracle Network Miracle Pennies, a K-12 program throughout the South Plains that partners with the UMC Children’s Hospital annually.
Money raised in the past has funded renovations of the Children’s Hospital, a children-only ambulance, child burn suits and other child-specific equipment.
“All of that money gets donated back to the hospital … ,” Allpass said. “So everything that we raised goes to actual equipment, and the hospital pays us. Nothing that we raise comes back to employees.”
Spurred by her own emotional connections, Allpass, who earned her bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and is pursuing a physician assistant program, has led efforts to restructure the former Children’s Miracle Network Dance Marathon, which disbanded during COVID-19.
The organization was officially reinstated in February. Miracle Mural, its first official event, was hosted Tuesday to introduce students to the group and draw attention to its cause.
Students gathered to write letters, draw pictures and arrange a mural of pennies for the South Plains region miracle children.
Katherine Keelan, a senior nutrition major from Dallas, is the Miracle Pennies College Edition secretary and president-elect.
Keelan said the direct
impact of the organization, through being able to write letters and deliver them just down the street, is what makes it special.
“It’s for such a great cause, and it’s so great that it’s local so you can really see your impact … ,” Keelan said.
Attendees of Tuesday’s event were offered an introduction to the organization, and some were motivated to join its efforts.
Lorilyn Ibarra, a first-year biology major from Midland, said she attended with the hope of learning about Tech and becoming more familiar with different student organizations. Following, she said she plans to join Miracle Pennies College Edition.
“These things are going directly to the children. … It’s like, actually connecting with the people who need it, with the people who are in a place that need comfort and support, and we actually get to do that,” Ibarra said.
to join.
As the semester progresses, Keelan said future fundraisers may include pickleball tournaments, karaoke and other events to get students “together for a good cause.”
Emma Jayne Reynolds, a senior psychological sciences major from Santa Fe, New Mexico, is the organization’s acting social events coordinator.
“I hope to get as much, like, fun in as possible and as much advocacy in as we can,” Reynolds said. “I’m very much someone who stands up for others, and I want to, I want the people who work with me and under me to walk away enriched through being educated and having experiences so that they can go on and make their own systems and own organizations.”
It’s more like interacting with the kids, making them feel normal rather than that they’re sick.
ASHLEIGH ALLPASS MIRACLE KIDS COLLEGE EDITION PRESIDENT
Sitting next to her, fellow first-year Midland native Presley Watzl said the organization spoke to her because she plans to pursue pediatrics herself.
“It’s so hard being a kid not, like I said, not living the normal life that their friends are living, and just being able to impact them in a more personal way than a lot of organizations do, I thought that was really cool,” Watzl, a pre-nursing major, said. Watzl also said she intends
Reynolds has worked in childcare and with kids in the past and said she plans to pursue a career in children’s psychology.
She said Miracle Pennies College Edition offered her a chance to help kids in a way she hadn’t before.
“I think it would inspire anyone just the same as it inspires me,” Reynolds said. “You see someone who needs help and wants help and you want to give them that help, but it’s also an invitation to bring joy into their lives through things that don’t necessarily come to mind to just the average person.”
@AynsleyLarsenDT
for
JACOB LUJAN/The Daily Toreador
A student decorates a card for kids at the University Medical Center Children’s Hospital at a Miracle Pennies College Edition event Aug. 20, 2024. The organization works to raise money
and emotionally support children at the hospital willing to share their “miracle stories.”
Red Raiders become extension of Miller’s
By TY KAPLAN SportS Editor
Texas Tech tight end
Johncarlos Miller II had never been more than 20 minutes away from his family before transferring to Texas Tech.
Homesickness held him back in drills and workouts, but with the support of his position coach, Josh Cochran, Miller found his drive once again.
“Coach Cochran is just an amazing human being,”
Miller said. “When you’re talking about that transition from being so far from home, coach McGuire and coach Cochran are huge parts of that.”
Originally from Greensboro, North Carolina, Miller attended Elon University for three years before joining the Red Raiders in December.
Between Elon and his high school, Dudley, the veteran tight end was always within arms’ reach of a loving embrace.
Now in Lubbock, Miller and his family are over a 22-hour road trip apart, but the junior said he still hears the words ‘I love you’ every day from a new part of his family.
“He (Cochran) tells me after every conversation that he loves me, and I believe it,” Miller said. “Anything I need I know I can call him. Anything that I have questions about, I know he’ll have an answer.”
Leaving home was a hard decision not just for Miller, but his parents too. Wherever Miller went his parents
wanted to feel comfort in knowing he’s taken care of, something Cochran accomplished.
“As a coach, I appreciated his parents trusting me and our coaching staff,” Cochran said. “During the spring it was tougher on him, you know, but I made sure I Facetimed his mom with him and made sure he was talking.”
Miller’s relationship with Cochran only grew stronger as training camp went on. In Friday’s news conference, following a fall practice, Miller said with his father being across the country, Cochran has proved to be someone he can look up to.
“Coach Cochran is really a positive male role model that I can lean on,” Miller said. “He’s somebody that I can always talk to and somebody I can always count on for anything.”
Unable to make the long 1,400-mile trip often, Miller’s mother visited him for her birthday over the offseason to help cheer him up. The veteran tight end said seeing his mom helped ground him in his purpose.
“She came up here and we had some really good conversations,” Miller said. “Everything in life is temporary and when I started thinking about that, you know, setting myself up for the future I realized I have to lock in temporarily for my family.”
The love for Miller extends outside of just his coach, Cochran said. Throughout the Red Raider football team, Miller is regarded as one of the kindest
teammates who never fails to produce a smile.
“He’s so loved on this team,” Cochran said. “... I think he’s really embracing being a part of this team and a part of this culture. I’ve never seen him without a smile on his face.”
Miller, accompanied by his family, will make his debut at Jones AT&T Stadium when the Red Raiders open their season at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 31 against Abilene Christian University.
@TyKaplanDT
PHOTO/The Daily Toreador
Texas Tech junior tight end Johncarlos Miller II (left) catches a touchdown during the spring game at the Sports Performance Center April 20, 2024.
The DT Crossword: Picture This
ACROSS
1. Action for a chef or karate student
5. Faith that celebrates Ramadan
10. Tease
13. Presence
14. The princess in “The Princess and the Frog”
15. Texting abbreviation that sometimes has an “h” included
16. Vincent Van Gogh masterpiece
19. Abbreviation that removes an “un”
20. Obsessed with appearances
21. Unit of resistance
23. Leonardo Da Vinci masterpiece
27. Directed toward 29. It can be boosted or bruised
30. Not quite burnt, as a marshmallow
31. Known as the five, the point, or the pivot
33. Ignores a “Wet Floor” sign, maybe35. Insults
37. Good guy 38. Images generated by ChatGPT or DALLE, or a hint to the entries in this grid with circled letters
39. Thin cloud of water droplets
43. Thoughtfully fashioned
45. Tech’s College of ___ & Communication
46. Teachers plan them 49. Words at the altar
51. “To ___ is human”
52. Film franchise with sequels that include “Prometheus” and “Romulus”
53. 23-across, e.g. 55. Typing speed; Abbr.
56. Elizabethan and Victorian, e.g. 59. Downed 60. Grant Wood masterpiece
66. Mathematical collection in brackets 67. Prefix meaning old 68. Word following “golden” or “ground” 69. Middle Earth monster
70. Do what he says! 71. Try to get someone’s attention
DOWN 1. Animal revered by the Egyptians 2. “???”
3. Mine stuff 4. Dish popular in 5-down 5. Rome’s country, to
its natives 6. Monty Python and the Holy Grail’s “Brave ___ Robin” 7. Stage between egg and pupa 8. Actress TaylorJoy of “The Queen’s Gambit” 9. Pedi counterpart 10. Oil ___ (mnemonic used by chemistry students to remember that “Oxidation is Loss” and “Reduction is Gain”) 11. “Honey, ___!”
12. Pester
17. Is askew 18. Absurd, as accusations
22. House and Gray, for two 23. Jibe
24. Stare rudely 25. Spider-___, character played
by Nicholas Cage in “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”
26. Slow-moving mollusks that can have up to 12,000 teeth
28. Response to “Who’s there?”
31. Type of activity that’s likely to raise heart rate
32. “Errare humanum ___”
34. Group a sheriff may round up
36. Sweetheart, in slang
38. Philosopher Rand who developed the system of Objectivism
40. “What’s the big ___?”
41. iPhone speaker?
42. Citrusy dessert that is also an adjective
44. Printer supply
45. Texas’ is just “Friendship”
46. Field for Saul Goodman
47. “West Texas town” of a Marty Robbins song
48. Approach a boiling point
50. Knight terror?
53. The first one begins: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly”
54. Give another go
57. Tears (into)
58. Anti-oxidant berry found in smoothies or bowls
61. End of an endless list
62. Prefix meaning new
63. Shade
64. Not feeling so hot
65. Animation frame
A playable online version of this crossword and its solution are available at dailytoreador.com/ puzzles.
@NathanKenisonDT
Ceedee Lamb’s Contract conundrum
Andrew Goodrich is
Dallas Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb is in the midst of a training camp holdout due to his unresolved future with the team.
Lamb is entering his fifth-year option season, the last of the rookie contract he signed in 2020 after he was selected 17th overall out of the University of Oklahoma.
With Lamb missing reps with the offense and his route timing in the air as of now, Dallas’ offense is missing its centerpiece. The Opelousas, Louisiana, native broke the Cowboys’ single season receptions (135) and receiving yards (1,749) record in 2023.
The team’s owner and general manager, Jerry Jones, has mishandled his contract situation now for over a year.
Lamb was clearly the Cowboys’ only true number-one receiving target after the 2022 season and had the opportunity to sign him for a lower rate, as at the time, the highest paid receiver was Tyreek Hill at an average of $30 million per season, according to spotrac.com.
Now, three receivers have reset the market as Amon-Ra St. Brown, AJ Brown and Justin Jefferson have signed for an average of over $30 million per season. According to spotrac.com, Jefferson has set the ceiling at $35 million average per year.
The Cowboys now have given up money to an already crammed salary cap that could have been prevented from signing the deal a year ago at a discounted rate.
Even if Lamb wanted to be the highest-paid receiver in the league, Jones could have signed him to a contract similar to Hill’s in 2023.
This situation is hardly unique to Lamb, however, as quarterback Dak Prescott is entering the final season of his contract, and linebacker Micah Parsons is now in his first year where he can be paid a second contract. Jones expressed his desire to keep both players around in previous media availabilities, but the financially smart decision is to sign them early if you already know you want to keep them.
Several quarterbacks have reset the market again this offseason, and the longer Jones waits to sign Parsons, the higher his yearly average will be against the cap.
For Lamb, this proves to be a cautionary tale: being proactive as an NFL front office will keep your core players around for longer, and comfortably within the confines of the salary cap.
Even if Lamb wanted to be the highest-paid receiver in the league, Jones could have signed him to a contract similar to Hill’s in 2023.
@AndrewG_DT
TikTok traps users in political echo chambers
As November nears, Americans nationwide are tuning into the political atmosphere to see which candidate they will choose.
Starting this summer, the two primary candidates, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, have landed on TikTok to promote their campaigns. With the platform’s infamous algorithm of feeding content to its audience based on watchtime, likes and shares, its use as a campaign platform is unethical, as it creates echo chambers within the political spectrums.
TikTok is a social media platform that curates content for its users using interactions to curate a “for you page.” In 2023, the sire was on multiple national hotlines for its aggressive algorithm pushing videos of anxiety and depression, leading viewers down a dangerous rabbit hole. This behavior from TikTok has now switched to the political battlefront.
How are they doing it?
Donald Trump has sought the vote of younger audiences by collaborating with Adin Ross, a streamer who has amassed 7.25 million followers across his accounts, to promote his campaign.
This tactic, along with collaborations with the UFC,
have curated an audience that groups people who are interested in fighting and watching streams.
On the other side of the aisle, Kamala Harris took advantage of younger audiences through her campaign page Kamala HQ, using the “BRAT” theme from Charlie XCX’s album, as well as Gen Z terminology and memes to promote her campaign.
By exploiting TikTok’s algorithmic nature, these two sides of the political spectrum are taking control of younger generations’ “FYP.” Whether it’s a video of the candidate or of someone supporting them, they will slowly spiral into content that only relates to that specific political mindset.
According to a 2021 research paper by Carnegie Mellon University, faculty members stated that “(T) he TikTok recommendation algorithm customizes video content for the individual user’s ‘for you’ page based on previous and continuous user engagement with presented video content through video viewing time, liking, commenting, and sharing.”
This data shows that the trend doesn’t necessarily require the viewer to like the content; TikTok uses an algorithm that links watch time and interaction with comments, prompting the algorithm to feed the user additional videos until the political views are incorporated into their entire feed.
While being great from a marketing standpoint, these methods of campaigning are dangerous for young voting
audiences as they create political echo chambers.
The algorithm may start feeding a user content based on a single interaction, which then leads to a pipeline of content centered around only one political party. Due to the use of memes and trends to promote the campaigning of these candidates, the election has turned from a political discussion to a cultural race.
TikTok, while promoting content based on clicks and pipelining content to users, will create inherent biases in younger generations due to
the lack of exposure to varying viewpoints.
Additionally, TikTok lacks any consistent fact-checking on its content, especially on political content that has recently focused more on the personality of the candidates, highlighting videos of the candidate with music or memes, or clips of the opposing candidate taken out of context. This humorous content usually circumvents the already limited fact-checking, allowing candidates to misinform and persuade their audiences, without the consequences.
So how do we stop it?
Legally there are no reparations for this type of campaigning, but each user of the platform should be mindful when seeing political content on TikTok and other social media platforms.
Checking facts and researching prior to November not only will allow voters to see all sides of this race, but additionally allow them to decide their own vote instead of letting an algorithm persuade their decisions from interactions with a screen.
@JacobLujan_DT
NATHAN KENISON/The Daily Toreador
Jacob Lujan is a junior creative media industries major from Corpus Christi.
Will Rogers, Soapsuds wrapped in school tradition
By JACOB LUJAN MultiMedia editor
Texas Tech’s campus features a lot of traditional aspects. From Spanish architecture to Memorial Circle and flowerbeds filled with colorful tulips, features like these bring together the history and landscape that encompasses Tech.
If students find their way toward the middle of campus, they will be greeted by a statue of a man riding a horse, surrounded by tall grass.
Whether it’s the day before a home game or the first day of classes, the Will Rogers and Soapsuds statue will be wrapped in red crepe paper, adding a dash of red to the beige campus landscape.
This tradition of wrapping Rogers’s statue started during the Southwest Conference-era of Tech football, said third-year first vice president of Saddle Tramps Mark Parrish.
“We are a rowdy bunch of fans for football, basketball and baseball. We love it,” Parrish said. “So I think for us, it’s just a reminder that like, ‘Hey, no matter what background you come from, no matter where you came from, you know who you are and what you believe.’
We’re all Texas Tech students. We’re all rocking that Double-T, and that’s what makes it so cool.”
According to the Saddle Tramps archives, Will Rogers and Soapsuds is wrapped because of an incident that occurred in the Southwest Conferenceera of Tech athletics.
During this time, Texas A&M was set to play the Red Raiders in Lubbock, and prior to the football game Aggies came to this statue and painted it maroon. Since then, the Saddle Tramps have held the key to guarding this cornerstone of Tech’s landscape.
Parrish said this guarding includes the iconic red wrapping, which was previously used to protect from graffiti. Now, it is a symbol for the Red Raiders during the football season.
“It reminds you that, you know what, ‘I’m a Texas Tech student’ and ‘Let’s have a good time at the football game,’” Parrish said.
During times of national tragedy, the statue can be seen wrapped in black crepe paper, according to the university’s website.
Will Rogers was a popular columnist, cowboy and oilman, according to Tech’ website. While he
wasn’t a student or faculty member at Tech, his claim to fame on Tech’s campus can be accredited to sending The Goin’ Band from Raiderland to its first away game.
According to the Tech Office of Advancement, Rogers, after speaking at an event on Oct. 29, 1926, discovered the band was $200 (equivalent to $3,442.96 in today’s currency) short of attending Tech’s football game
against Texas Christian.
An article from The Fort Worth Star-Telegram wrote “Rogers wanted Fort Worth to see a ‘real West Texas band’ and hear some ‘real West Texas music,’” according to Tech’s website.
The Will Rogers statue was completed on Feb. 16, 1950, by Amon G. Carter, a longtime friend of Rogers and Tech’s first chairman of the University’s Board of Directors. According to
the university’s website, Carter said he believed the statue would fit into the landscape while also being the perfect place to construct a memorial.
The construction of the statue, according to Tech’s Public Art Collection website, was under fire when the positioning of Rogers placed Soapsuds’s rear toward downtown Lubbock. This dilemma was solved by rotating the statue 23 degrees east
so the rear was pointed in a straight line toward College Station, home to Tech’s then-rival, Texas A&M University. From its inception, Saddle Tramps members have bridged the past and present through a tradition that not only adds the school’s colors to the university’s landscape, but serves as a reminder of the history Tech was built on.
@JacobLujan_DT
JACOB LUJAN/The Daily Toreador
Saddle Tramps gather around the Will Rogers and Soapsuds statue while they wrap the statue in red crepe
JACOB LUJAN/The Daily Toreador
Bryson White, a Saddle Tramps member, aids in the traditional wrapping of the Will Rogers and Soapsuds statue Aug. 21, 2024. Mark Parrish, first vice president of the Saddle Tramps, said if the rear end of the wrapping falls off first it is indicative of good luck.
JACOB LUJAN/The Daily Toreador
The Will Rogers and Soapsuds statue, freshly wrapped in the traditional red crepe paper faces west as the sun sets Aug. 21, 2024. The Will Rogers and Soapsuds statue was completed on Feb. 16, 1950.
Bora travels 25 hours to pursue higher education
By CHRISTIAN JETER Feature Writer
Aakash Bora has traveled across the world to pursue a higher education.
Bora said his grandparents were the first in his family to attend college in India, and now the tradition continues with him in the United States at Texas Tech.
Bora, who is studying as a third-year computer science and mathematics major and works as a TrUE student assistant, lived with his family in Pune, India, before moving
to the U.S.
Bora said education is a “number-one priority” in his family.
“Everyone in my family, I would say even my grandfather, has a bachelor's degree,” Bora said. “And my mother has a master's degree as well. So, my family has quite a good emphasis on education.”
Bora said his family encouraged him to go to college, regardless of where.
“Although it was more of my decision to come to the U.S., my family still supported
SCHOOL OF MUSIC
me. Even if I was back in India, they would surely push me to get a master's degree,” Bora said.
Being forced out of his comfort zone provides him many opportunities for growth, Bora said.
“I believe everyone must have this experience of staying on their own. You get a lot more independent. You get to do all your things on your own,” he said. “And you get to meet new people and new cultures. I get international exposure here. I get to meet a
from
lot of new people from various countries all around the world, and I get to learn those new cultures.”
Along with wanting to find new experiences and independence, Bora said part of why he came to the U.S. was the workability he found in American-style education.
“There's a significant difference between the teaching styles of India and the U.S. after high school,” he said. “Back in India, if you are pursuing a bachelor's, you get a fixed curriculum with a set
Ziegenhorn brings musical passion to Tech
By GRACE HAWKINS, SAMANTHA GARCIA Feature Writers
Laren Ziegenhorn has loved music since age 6 when her mother took her to the symphony.
Her family’s musical legacy started with her mom’s association in choir and her brother’s involvement in band, which led Ziegenhorn to take on the violin early in her life.
“My mom would take me to the symphony a lot growing up,” Ziegenhorn, a sophomore music performance and music education major, said. “I think I just loved seeing them play the music they made, and I always noticed the violins more.”
The Houston native’s love for music inspired her to travel to Mondavio, Italy, for a three-week opera workshop
called Music in the Marche.
The program helps young artists pursue careers in symphony, according to its website. Ziegenhorn performed in solos and trios from different classical opera excerpts.
Ziegenhorn plans to graduate and earn a doctorate degree in music, continuing another eight years at the institution.
With her adoration for
performing, Ziegenhorn said she hopes to perform opera in the symphony and plans to use her training in music education to teach at a fouryear institution.
“I would love to perform in some capacity, either in an opera or a band,” Ziegenhorn said. “But I do love to teach, so I think at some point I would want to teach in a university, kind of like I’ve seen people do around here.”
of classes and there is only, like, one professor available for each class, and that's all you need to follow. But here it's more open, and you can choose your own classes. It's much more flexible.”
Bora said the opportunity for activities outside the classroom are much greater in the American college system.
“Also, in the U.S., the focus is equally placed on academics and extracurricular,” he said.
“I found it more useful, since I would get all around exposure not just in academics, but also in being part of some
student orgs and making new international friends.”
Post-graduation, Bora said he hopes to eventually become a business owner and break away from the conventional 9 to 5, regardless of the potential obstacles.
“My long-term goal is what keeps me motivated. I want to work as a software developer and eventually start my own business,” Bora said. “I don't want to work a standard job for my entire life. Owning a business has its own perks and downsides, but that's what I prefer.”
Courtesy photo / Aakash Bora
Aakash Bora takes a photo of Shaniwar Wada, a historical fortification and tourist landmark built in 1732 in Pune, India. Bora is
Pune, India, and is pursuing a higher education at Texas Tech.
Courtesy photo / Aakash Bora
Aakash Bora takes a photo in front of the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, California.
GRACE HAWKINS / The Daily Toreador Laren Ziegenhorn sits on a bench in the School of Music Aug. 20, 2024.