WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 16, 2015 VOLUME 90 ■ ISSUE 14
SMILE EVENT
TURNOVERS
PG. 5
EL GRITO
PG. 7
ONLINE
INDEX OPINIONS LA VIDA SPORTS CROSSWORD CLASSIFIEDS SUDOKU
4 5 7 3 7 5
WEATHER
Local temperatures begin to change By EASTON WOLLNEY
A
Staff Writer
s temperatures start to drop and cooler mornings creep in, Texas Tech students can expect winter weather soon. Brian Ancell, an atmospheric science professor at Tech, said Lubbock can probably expect more severe weather conditions this winter than last. The average freeze date for Lubbock is Oct. 31, according to the National Weather Service, but Ancell said it could be earlier this year. Chances are higher this year for conditions such as snow, sleet and freezing rain, Ancell said. “The chances are better that will happen because of El Niño,” Ancell said. Lubbock may start to see cooler temperatures toward late October or early November, Ancell said.
As for short-term weather predictions, Ancell said, Lub-
bock can potentially see rain Thursday or Friday night and
into the weekend. The potential rain Lubbock
may experience is still far away so it can be hard to predict, Ancell said, but there is still a 30 to 40 percent chance. Ancell said these weather conditions are exciting for him as an atmospheric scientist. “It’s fun for people like me I think, just because it’s hard to predict and it’s kind of just crazy,” Ancell said. The jet stream is slowly starting to move down toward Lubbock, Ancell said, which will cause the winter weather conditions to occur. “ I n t h e s u m m e r, t h e j e t stream is way up in Canada, which is why we don’t see a whole lot of weather in the summer,” Ancell said. Lubbock can expect weather temperatures in the high 80s and low 90s for a few more weeks at least, Ancell said.
SEE WEATHER, PG. 2
CAMPUS
Counseling Center offers eating disorder help By SHASHIDHAR SASTRY Staff Writer
The Student Counseling Center at Texas Tech will be conducting a skills training group to teach people better ways to cope with challenging emotions. “Our main purpose is to work with students that struggle with binge eating, overeating, purging after meals, just kind of mindless eating,” Eliot Dennard, staff psychologist at the Student Counseling Center and co-leader of the group, said. “So, we really want to work with those students and give them different skills that they can use instead of turning to those disordered eating behaviors.”
I think it can be really easy for people to turn to food when they do feel uncomfortable. I think a lot of times people feel ashamed about those behaviors ... ELIOT DENNARD STAFF PSYCHOLOGIST Many times people feel uncomfortable when faced with challenging emotions, Dennard said. They then try to find comfort in food and use it as a coping strategy. The main goal of the group is to teach people a skill set that will allow them to effectively deal with such emotions instead of turning to food, she said. “I think that people always learn a lot from the group,” Dennard said. “They’re definitely able to see things differently and change some of their behaviors.” There is a wide array of things college students could be stressed about, she said. Transitioning to a new environment, being away from family, competition in college,
career goals and relationship troubles can all be sources of stress. Jane Westmoreland, doctoral intern at the Student Counseling Center, will serve as the coleader of the therapy group alongside Dennard. Westmoreland said group therapy is useful in that it provides much-needed social support. “The group is helpful for people who are struggling with eating,” Westmoreland said. “It helps to provide people with some coping skills, stress management and mindfulness in order to better manage their emotions.” Eating disorders are serious emotional and physical problems that can have lifethreatening consequences for both females and males, according to the National Eating Disorders Association website. If someone is suffering, his or her friend can help by opening up the dialogue without making the person feel ashamed, Dennard said. Additionally, society, in a way, teaches that people can eat for comfort. “So, I think it can be really easy for people to turn to food when they do feel uncomfortable,” she said. “I think a lot of times people feel ashamed about those behaviors, especially when it comes to food.” The group focuses on three main groups of skills, Dennard said, which are developing mindfulness, distress tolerance and emotion regulation skills. Participants will meet until the end of the semester, she said, and will also be involved in additional experiential activities related to mindfulness and relaxation. “I think one of the things that our group helps with is just for the students to know that they are not alone and that there’s other people that struggle with the same thing,” Dennard said. For more information or to register for the group email eliot.dennard@ttu.edu or call 806-742-3674. @SastryShashi_DT
TENNIS
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ZETH ABNEY/The Daily Toreador
The Texas Tech Student Counseling Center will start a group to help students cope with unhealthy eating habits. The goal of the group is to help people deal with emotional distress in a healthy way.
PROFILE
Tech tennis sends four players Alumnus serves as Lubbock police chief to Riviera/ITA Championships By DAVID GAY Texas Tech women’s tennis sophomores Sarah Dvorak, Gabriela Talaba and Sabrina Federici, along with junior Lynn Kiro, earned a spot in the 2015 Riviera/ITA AllAmerican Championships, according to a Tech Athletics news release. The quartet of players will travel to Pacific Palisades, California, to compete in the pre-qualifying singles matches hosted in the Riviera Tennis Club, according to the release. Of the nine Big 12 schools participating in the tournament, Tech stands as the lone Big 12 school to send any players to the tourna-
ment. Tech’s four selected players mark a record number of selections for the program. Each of Tech’s four players rank inside the top 125 Oracle/ ITA Collegiate Tennis preseason rankings, making Tech one of nine schools to have four players in the preseason rankings. The Lady Raiders will be joined by California, Florida, Georgia, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Southern California, Stanford and Miami. Tech’s three sophomores open competition Oct. 3 and Tech’s single junior begins the tournament Oct. 6. @DGaytanDT
Staff Writer
On Aug. 21, Greg Stevens was named the new police chief of the Lubbock Police Department. Stevens formerly attended Texas Tech and received his Master of Business Administration from the Jerry S. Rawls College of Business Administration. He then served as the assistant chief of police before being promoted. Being a police officer was always the dream, Stevens said. “I looked for police jobs all across the region,” Stevens said, “from Albuquerque all the
way to Texarkana. I did really well on Lubbock’s entrance exam and they hired me.” Stevens said STEVENS education was not on his radar until he realized he wanted to be a police chief. Stevens then did research on how he could be competitive for a police chief job, he said, and he discovered he needed both an undergraduate and graduate degree. He received his undergraduate degree in criminal justice from Wayland University, he said, and
immediately looked forward to getting his graduate degree. “In 2005, I took the GMAT test, and that is tough at 35 years old,” he said. “I did well enough to get into the MBA program at the Rawls College of Business.” Stevens had to balance his military life, having served in the U.S. Navy Reserve and U.S. Air Force, with his career as a police officer and family life while in the MBA program, he said. There had to be sacrifices in all three aspects of his life.
SEE CHIEF, PG. 5