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THURSDAY, JAN. 25, 2024 VOLUME 95 ISSUE 6

SPORTS

LA VIDA

OPINIONS

NEWS

Texas Tech basketball sparks competition between the residence halls with attendance challenge for home games.

All members of the Texas Tech community are encouraged to submit recipes to take part in the Red Raider Cookbook.

From personal experience, a member of The DT shares their thoughts on the reality of being a Dallas Cowboys fan.

One psychologist details their thoughts on what makes an attainable New Year’s Resolution.

INDEX

PG 2

PG 3

PG 4

SPORTS LA VIDA OPINIONS NEWS

2 3 4 5

PG 5

APPLIANCES

LP&L shutdown calls for change in electricity provider

By AUSTIN WOOD Staff Writer

Lubbock residents will have until Feb. 15 the option to choose a new energy provider to replace Lubbock Power & Light until.

As Lubbock transitions into the electric market following a 2022 City Council vote, current LP&L customers can choose from over 30 approved energy providers.

According to the LP&L website, currently approved residential electric providers include Southern Federal Power, Champion Energy Services, Reliant Energy, TXU Energy and Octopus Energy.

If customers do not choose a provider by Feb. 15, they will be randomly assigned to either TXU, Reliant or Octopus.

“The reason we did that was we had to make sure that nobody fell into cracks,” said Matt Rose, LP&L Public Affairs & Government Relations Manager.

While many residents can remember the limited competition that existed before 2010 when LP&L acquired Southwestern Public Service’s remaining lines, this will be an entirely different market with plenty of new questions. For Rose and LP&L, education has been a primary goal throughout

the transition to competition.

“We held 10 different town halls at the end of the year in different council member districts and the vast majority of what we did in those events was educate folks on the services we provided,” Rose said.

In addition to community meetings, LP&L has hosted shopping fairs at the Lubbock Civic Center, where customers are able meet with providers and collect information on electric plans, according to the LP&L website.

A final shopping fair is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Feb. 10.

“There's a lot of anxiety, but as people come in to shopping fairs like this one as they go on to lpandl.com and they go through the powertochoose.org and they start looking through these companies, they find that they can pretty quickly narrow it down,” Rose said.

Powertochoose.org is a website administered by the Public Utility Commission of Texas which allows electric providers to list their rates free of charge, granting customers the ability to compare prices between plans and providers.

Rose said, according to initial projections, that customers prob-

ably won’t see a huge uptick in prices.

“If LP&L were to have stayed in this business, we can now project that our rate that would be set in May to take effect in the summer months going forward would be 16.7 cents,” Rose said. “As we look across this market, we see that middle of the market, even these big guys are coming in at about 16.5 cents.”

Customers will receive their final LP&L bill in March, with the first bill from their new provider arriving after a 30-day billing cycle, according to the LP&L website. LP&L no longer will serve as an electric provider and will focus the core of its operations on maintaining existing infrastructure and outage control.

If customers have complaints, the Public Utility Commission of Texas’ Consumer Protection Division can be reached at 888-7828477 or 512-936-7120.

“It’s sort of the most important thing we do at the PUC is protect customers, foster competition and ensure reliability, that's our mission,” said Mike Hoke, director of the PUC’s Office of Public Engagement. “So, it really begins and ends with the customer.”

For some customers, transpar-

ency and consistency are paramount in a new provider.

“A rate that I can depend on, it's not going to skyrocket right after the 12-month-period,” said David Miller, a Lubbock resident of over 30 years.

For the providers, creating trust with residents will be an important aspect of building a relations h i p with the c o m munity.

A n n a Delano, Lubbock regional manager for Reliant Energy, said it’s important for people to know that her company has made a longterm investment in Lubbock.

“What's important for people to know about reliant is we're not going anywhere. We are a large energy provider in Texas,” Delano said. “We have Texas roots. We have an office in Lubbock. We've hired locally, and we're going to offer several local built pay stations

at Walmart and CVS and things like that. We are very community oriented. We're not going to change that two years from now, three years from now, five years from now. We're here. Lubbock is family now, we’re here to stay.”

At the end of the day, L P & L’ s R o s e said the move t o competition will help customers in a multitude of ways.

“Retail competition at its very core offers more choice as a very simple answer. It offers you more choice in cost,” Rose said. “It offers you more choice and the length of contract, the type of contract you sign, of the types of resources that generate your power.” @AustinWoodDT

HEALTH

Local experts to edit medical misunderstandings

By AYNSLEY LARSEN NeWS, L a Vida editor

In an effort to combat online medical misinformation, two local experts have launched a researchbacked health podcast to promote informed, educated approaches to modern-day medicine.

Dr. Jessica Gray, a board-certified family medicine physician and Texas Tech graduate, and her podcast partner Dr. Cari Sorrell, a board-certified gastroenterologist and locum doctor, launched The Med Edit Podcast on Jan. 11.

“What we noticed is that actual, real medical doctors are not part of that conversation right now on social media,” Gray said. “It's usually some kind of influencer or someone with just their personal experience, or someone with a lesser-trained background, or someone who's trying to sell you something … . We want to be part of that conversation and say, ‘Hey, we actually have the most training here and education and background. We are here to help you and not make a penny off of you for it.’”

Gray and Sorrell began their friendship professionally, referring patients to each other and attending many of the same medical conferences. Gray said the two found their way into the same circle of professional friends and bonded over a common interest in the desire to provide accurate medical

JACOB LUJAN/The Daily Toreador

Dr. Cari Sorrell (left) and Dr.Jessica Gray, hosts and founders of The Med Edit podcast, pose at the entrance of their podcast launch party Jan. 18, 2024.

information to the public. “(We) really just hit it off realizing that we had a shared mutual frustration that we were not able to combat some of the medical misinformation that happens, on social media especially,” Gray said, “and how we have patients coming in that end up either with a delay in a correct diagnosis or making something worse because they were getting information from … not-appropriate medical sources online.”

Sorrell said the two wanted to find a medium of addressing topics often brought up by their patients, and to approach those issues efficiently and effectively. Each episode features the two as hosts, as well as frequent appearances from experts

in various fields.

“If it's something that's outside the realm of one of our intimate knowledge, or even sometimes if it is, we'll bring on somebody just to have another person to have dialogue with,” Sorrell said.

Features of the podcast also include two of Sorrell’s brainchildren: the Awkward Moment and Hollywood Hype segments.

Hollywood Hype allows Sorrell and Gray to address pop culture medical trends, with topics ranging from the Real Housewives’ take on colon cleansing to the size of Paris Hilton’s baby’s head (both of which Gray said will appear in future episodes). The Awkward Moment section, Sorrell said, is a place for listeners to submit uncomfortable

medical questions and topics they are seeking answers for.

“We really kind of want to break that stigma that you need to be embarrassed when you ask your doctor something,” Sorrell said.

“I mean, our job is not judgment, our job is education. And so I think that people are constantly worried, especially in a smaller community, to ask those kinds of questions.”

Gray said one of the perks of their podcast’s theme was the amount of potential content. The partners said they will look to media, trends and audience questions for subjects, as well as their personal experiences.

The podcast’s second episode detailed some of Gray’s own medical struggles, the personability of which she said added relatability to their content.

“I think it's natural when we have a conversation, and we want to be genuine with our audience, we're going to talk about our lives a bit,” Gray said. “We want to use our personal experience in order to reach out to our listeners and make a more personal connection.”

Produced by Blubrry Podcasting and recorded in Sorrell’s pool house, The Med Edit podcast goes beyond just an idea and a recording studio.

Gray said it has been fun for both her and Sorrell to learn a skill outside of their day jobs, and one that will reach a wide range of people.

“It's real. It's professionally pro-

duced. It is syndicated nationwide, so you can listen to it anywhere,” Gray said. “I know we have family members listening in other states, as far away as my mom in Portland, Oregon, is telling people about it.”

Sorrell said when pulling sources and information for the topic each episode addresses, she looks specifically for resources that are free and accessible to everyone. All resources are suggestions both Gray and Sorrell would recommend as professionals, and a major goal of the project is to provide answers to questions people may not know to ask.

“A lot of times people don't know what they need to know, and so they look for answers in the wrong places,” Sorrell said. “And so we're hoping to be able to give them those factual answers to questions they didn't even know they need to be asking.”

Released every other Thursday, The Med Edit’s next episode will drop Thursday on any platform that streams podcasts. Gray and Sorrell said the show will continue as long as there is content to produce and interest from listeners.

“Our goal is not necessarily to go be nationally famous,” Gray said.

“We're not trying to make money off of this, we're not trying to be famous … . We want to help (people) be more educated and take charge of their health.” @AynsleyLarsenDT

RED RAIDER

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Page 2 Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024

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SPORTS

BASKETBALL

Dorm hall challenge spikes attendance at USA

By JAMAR BROOKS SportS reporter

For students on Texas Tech campus, attending men's basketball games this season could prove more lucrative than the usual reward of enjoying the game-day experience inside the United Supermarkets Arena.

Beginning with the Red Raiders’ conference home opener on Jan. 9 against Oklahoma State, students living in the residence hall with the best attendance at home games will have the opportunity to partake in a celebration with Tech head coach Grant McCasland at the end of the season.

To verify a students’ place of residence, Tech associate director of promotions and fan engagement Bri Lemaster said when students check into games using their RaiderCard (student ID), they are put into a computing system by the Tech ID office.

“We get an email after every game that shows a breakdown of how many students from each dorm attends,” Le-

master said. “They (ID office) have a breakdown between freshman through graduates, and then what dorm they live in. We don’t get names or anything. It just tells us a number, and then we take a percentage out of the capacity of the dorm since they’re different sizes.”

With some students also working in residence halls, Tech ID office supervisor Holly King said individuals will ensure students are marked for the dorm they live in, not one’s they work in.

“There are some instances where, say that you lived on campus and you lived in a residence hall but you work at a different residence hall, you’re going to have to have two flags on your account,” King said. “There’s not that many of them, so we are able to go through and make sure that we pick the right hall that they actually live in, not necessarily the ones that they work in.”

As for the challenge itself, Tech senior associate athletics director Robert Giovannetti said he and a marketing group within Tech’s athletics

department came up with the concept.

“When you lose that little gap sometimes with students from when they leave in December until they come back in January, you’re not communicating with them on a regular basis,” Giovannetti said. “You just aren’t sure if you kept that connection, and so one of the things that I had met with a marketing team about is I said, ‘Hey, let's come up with an idea.’”

The idea evolved with the intention of further incentivizing students to attend games, Giovannetti said.

“Because they (students) had moved in that weekend before that first home game (against Oklahoma State), we thought it might be kind of fun to start a challenge there,” Giovannetti said. “To just kind of welcome the students back and get them back into thinking about basketball and attending basketball games.”

Since implementing the challenge, Giovannetti said there has been an uptick in student section attendance from each game.

PABLO MENA/The Daily Toreador

A packed United Supermarkets Arena crowd watches as Texas Tech announces its starting lineup for the game against Kansas State Jan. 13, 2024.

“I think you’ve seen it.

We’ve had increasing student attendance for the first three conference home games. It’s increased from each game,” Giovannetti said. “So I think anything we can do to help out and engage students is always very, very helpful.”

In the process of setting up the event, Giovannetti said

McCasland was consulted by the marketing team. The firstyear head coach was eager for the opportunity.

“Grant is fantastic when it comes to engaging with the students,” Giovannetti said.

“So once he saw the opportunity, he was all for it. He’s great to work with. He understands the importance of students.

The students make a difference. It’s a complete game changer when we have a great student crowd.”

Currently, details of the party including the date and location are yet to be determined as the subsequent information will be provided in the future. @JamarBrooksDT

TRACK AND FIELD

Kittley strives to continue winning culture

By ANDREW GOODRICH SportS reporter

In August of 2023, Texas Tech track and field head coach Wes Kittley signed a seven-year contract worth $3.8 million, thus tying his name to the Red Raiders until 2030, according to Tech Athletics.

With the first of his newly-signed seven seasons

upon him, the tenured head coach said he’s ready to build upon the history he’s made within the organization and continue adding hardware to the Red Raiders’ trophy case.

“We want to win some more national championships,” Kittley said after the Corky Classic on Saturday.

“We want to win some more Big 12 championships,

and this thing (Texas Tech) is locked on wanting to do that.”

During Kittley’s tenure at Tech, the West Texas native coached a men’s outdoor national championship team in 2019, 11 conference championship teams and produced 31 individual NCAA champions.

Furthermore, Kittley yielded 19 Olympians out

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of his program with five producing eight medals combined, according to Tech Athletics.

Currently in his 25th season with the university, Kittley surpasses former Lady Raider basketball coach Marsha Sharp as the longest tenured head coach in Tech athletics history, according to Tech Athletics.

“I’ve never been more proud to be here,” Kittley said. “I feel like, from our administration to the facilities we have, my coaching staff and team that we built, that you’re about to see the best group that we’ve ever had.”

Following the announcement of Kittley’s extension, Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt stated in a news release from Tech Athletics on Aug. 11, 2023, his optimism surrounding the future of Tech track and field under the decorated coach.

MAKAYLA PEREZ/The Daily Toreador

Head coach Wes Kittley cheers on racing athletes in the Stan Scott Memorial Open at the Sports Performance Center Jan. 13, 2024.

“We have the best track and field coach in the country in coach Kittley," Hocutt stated in the release. "Our track and field program is a shining example of the consistency we hope all our teams strive for with their multiple Big 12 titles and our 2019 national champi-

onship.”

“Coach Kittley will be the first to tell you they plan to only get better,” Hocutt stated in the release. “We couldn't be more excited he will continue to lead our program for years to come." @AndrewG_DT

BASKETBALL

AND

Red Raiders dominate from FT line

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Applications due: 4 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26 180 Media & Communication Rotunda

Touting free throw percentages of 77.4 and 76.3 respectively, Texas Tech men’s and women’s basketball have remained the most consistent Big 12 team’s from the line throughout the 2023-2024 season, according to the NCAA.

Representing the nation’s 15th best team free throw percentage, Tech men’s basketball has established its discipline from the charity stripe with a conferenceleading nine players possessing a 75 percent or higher free throw percentage, according to the NCAA. “When you can get to the foul line, when you can put pressure on the rim, then you can start to gain more confidence,” said Tech head basketball coach Grant McCasland.

Senior guard Joe Toussaint has spearheaded Tech’s free throw shooting w i t h a team-leading 69 m a k e s o n 82.5 percent from the line across 18 games, according to Tech Athletics.

The West Virginia transfer showcased his discipline from the line on Jan. 13 at the United Supermarkets Arena with a perfect night from the stripe including the gamewinning make to push Tech past Kansas State 60-59, according to Tech Athletics.

The Lady Raiders’ ability to get to the line has been a deciding factor in a collection of their conference games with the final scoring margin being a bucket less than Tech’s free throw makes.

“I think we’re really good shooters, and our kids are very focused at the free throw line,” head coach Krista Gerlich said. “... I love the mental toughness that speaks too.”

For Tech, no one woman has gotten to the line as often as sophomore guard Bailey Maupin.

The second-year point player has found her way to the charity stripe for a conference-leading 105 attempts and connected on 90 to rank within the nations’ top 20 for the respective stat, according to the NCAA. “She can stop on a dime, which absolutely is difficult to defend,” Gerlich said. “And then she uses her body really well going up through contact.

We’ve worked really hard at getting her to play off two feet so that she can get fouled and score the basketball.” @TyKaplanDT

@DailyToreador www.dailytoreador.com

LA VIDA

Page 3 Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024

PHOTO

Chitwood residents bond over bracelets MAKAYLA PEREZ/The Daily Toreador

A Bracelet Making with Friends attendee looks at her creation during the production process at Chitwood Resident Hall Jan. 23, 2024. This event gave residents of the dorm hall the opportunity and materials to create friendship bracelets. Strung together and decorated with beads and ornaments, Friendship Bracelets usually come in pairs, one for each friend.

MAKAYLA PEREZ/The Daily Toreador

Texas Tech freshmen Addi Timmerman and Estrella Westermann laugh while crafting friendship bracelets for each other during the Bracelet Making with Friends event at Chitwood Resident Hall Jan. 23, 2024.

MAKAYLA PEREZ/The Daily Toreador

A Chitwood resident picks up beads from a plastic tray during the Bracelet Making with Friends event at Chitwood Hall Jan. 23, 2024.

FOOD

Red Raider Cookbook to share cultures, recipes

“... It’s about connecting people over one of the most common things that we find Sitting around the table ourselves gathering around with those you love is a the table for.” familiar feeling to most: the The book will serve as aroma of your favorite dish, a way to connect distance the conversation that fills the learners and those on room and the memories that campus, Chavezextend past the table.

Brannon said.

Despite the distance many Additionally, college students experience, one of her Parent and Family Relations f a v o r i t e and Texas Tech Hospitality r e c i p e s Services are teaming up that has to produce the Red Raider b e e n Cookbook with hopes of submitted is from the bringing a hometown feeling h o m e t o w n o f Ta b r i z , a little closer.

Azerbaijan.

Open to all members of the “Basically, they talk about Tech community, cookbook how it wasn’t just a meal, but submissions are available part of their identity and their through the end of February. culture,” Chavez-Brannon said.

“Food is so communal, and “Because the dish is actually that’s the idea: Red Raiders named after their city. So feeding Red Raiders,” said Evan basically, anytime somebody Wilson, Hospitality Services’ mentions this particular dish marketing to this person, department. they have these “Red Raiders instant memories come from Food is so of, you know, all over the vibrant streets communal, and world, and and bazaars and we want that that’s the idea: Red things like that.” represented. Raiders feeding The recipes “ … I t ’ s Red Raiders ... . don’t stop those meals with the book, that you had Evan Wilson h o w e v e r . growing up, Unit Manager A s s o c i a t e that remind director of you of where you came from Hospitality Services Alan and where you’re at now,” Cushman said there is room Wilson said. for some dishes to find homes The link, published on in the dining halls around TechAnnounce, gives room campus. to share the story behind the “Campus dining is really dish. Once an entry is made, the part of the university the submissions are culled experience that extends through, keeping in mind beyond the classroom,” repetition, serving size and Cushman said. “And that’s difficulty level. kind of what this project is, is “One of my favorite parts of another way for us to support this is that, for the recipes that our students, to provide that are being submitted, people experience and to make their are encouraged to share their time here at Texas Tech the story,” said Morgan Chavez- best possible.”

Brannon, assistant director of Cushman said the best Parent and Family Relations. way to find out when the book

By MARIANNA SOURIALL Editor-in-ChiEf

will be published and the featured dishes is to follow hospitality on X, formerly known as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook with the handle EatAtTexasTech.

The final book is estimated to be released on the Parent and Family Relation webpage and Hospitality S e r v i c e webpage and social media in June.

“It’s just kind of a neat way to kind of give those students who are probably away from home, taking finals, doing tests and doing all these tough things to have that, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s the way my mom’s lasagna,’ you know, and ‘This is the way my mom made fajitas you know,’ or ‘This is the way my dad grilled burgers,’” Cushman said. “And it’s just a really, really cool way to kind of help, you know, remind them that they’re not far from home no matter where they are.” @MariannaS_DT

Tuxedo Junction of Lubbock

5210 82nd Street (806) 795-9331

Located inside Evergreen Cleaners

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OPINIONS

COLUMN

CARTOON

Netflix’s fall from grace Raider Red’s pipe dreams

In 1997, the era of video streaming with no advertisements began and lasted for a long time. Everyone fell in love with Netflix when it first came out due to its beautiful layout, lack of ads, versatility and variety of shows offered.

Almost 27 years later, there are a handful of great services such as Hulu, Max and Amazon Prime. With recent changes made to Netflix, can the people really consider Netflix to be ‘top dog’ for streaming services? Or is there a better option?

In 2023, Netflix announced a controversial change, especially for students moving away from home. In order to access the service, your screen would have to be on the same internet as the ‘anchor’ screen. In order to establish an ‘anchor,’ it must be the first TV screen to connect to the Wi-Fi. Checking other stream-

Alexandria Serratti is a freshman journalism major from McKinney.

ing services, no other application uses this same method, which is strange.

Why did Netflix start implementing this rule? It’s because subscribers of Netflix started password sharing, so the company was losing money due to the number of people leaching off of friends and family.

However, the location restrictions aren’t the only reasons people cancel their memberships. After a while, shows started to drop from Netflix due to contracts and space limitations.

To make room for a new show, you may have to take some others off, but Netflix hasn’t been making some of the best decisions with picking and choosing.

It has canceled some of

its highest-viewed shows, including “Fate: A Winx Saga,” “Julie and The Phantoms” and “Shadow and Bone,” which racked up 192.9 million views before getting canceled, according to Yahoo Entertainment.

Now, Netflix is introducing advertisements for lower-paid plans, which undoes everything that made it appealing from the beginning.

In the end, what is the point in paying $7.99 or more a month for a service that has ads, you can’t share, and streams shows that could be canceled at the drop of a hat?

There are better options like Max, Hulu or even Amazon Prime, as none of these services have changed their policies or prices as drastically. It depends on what you are looking for or what you like to watch, but Netflix just isn’t what it was. @AlexSerrattiDT

ADAM SIERRA/The Daily Toreador

COLUMN

The Dallas Cowboys’ never-ending cycle Andrew Goodrich is a sophomore journalism major from Irving.

The Dallas Cowboys.

The most iconic sports brand in the world. With the timeless star on their helmets and the herolike figures from the past, there is no franchise like them.

I am from Irving, a suburb only a 20-minute drive from Dallas, and I have been a Cowboys fan since I was 9 years old.

My experiences of be-

ing a Cowboys fan are marred with shortcomings. Whether they be blowouts such as the recent Jan. 14 Packers loss in the Wildcard round, or heartbreakers like the 2016 Packers divisional round game, you can count on one of them to show up by the end of the season.

To be a Cowboys fan, the only way to keep your sanity is to set your expectations accordingly.

If your expectations are Super Bowl or bust, you will be let down every year.

You need to understand the context of the team to see their future.

When playoffs arrive, if who wants all control of you go in with an expecta- football operations, is extion of, “If we win, great, tremely frustrating as a if not, I am grateful to fan. have watched and support Gone are the days of my team,” the 1990s you will be a triplets with much hapquarterback pier fan.

To be a Cowboys T r o y A i k As much fan, the only way to m a n , w i d e as us fans receiver keep your sanity is to wish we Michael Irhad control set your expectations vin, running over coach- accordingly. back Emmitt ing, player Smith and personnel and drafting, we coach Jimmy Johnson that don’t. So there is no use in won three Super Bowls. getting upset over things Even further removed you cannot control. are 1970s memories of Having to deal with an quarterback Roger Stauowner like Jerry Jones, bach’s dazzling plays to

wide receiver Drew Pearson with their larger-thanlife coach Tom Landry.

This blue blood franchise has been swimming upstream since Jones and Johnson parted ways in 1994, and I never got to see the glory days.

Seeing the greats of the 21st century such as quarterback Tony Romo, defensive end DeMarcus Ware and running back DeMarco Murray not win a Super Bowl devastated me growing up.

Now in the Dak Prescott era, which arguably has had the best overall rosters since the 1990s teams,

PUZZLE

The DT Crossword: ‘Double Trouble’ and 43-across 60. Capital of Italy 61. Microsoft-owned search engine 62. Stay aloft 63. Did 80 in a 70, perhaps 64. The “a” in a.m.

65. Associate of Moe and Larry

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ACROSS 1. Organisms that some hand sanitizers claim to kill 99 percent of 6. Items tossed in a game of cornhole 10. Rocky cliff 14. Honda’s luxury brand 15. To harshly criticize, with “against” 16. Sharpen 17. Upside down 19. Prefix meaning

“eight” 20. Soccer chant 21. Ready to eat, as a fruit 22. Marvel antihero played by Tom Hiddleston 23. Afternoon naps 26. Certain travel permits 27. Marty Mcfly, for example 31. Early video game releases 34. Top-of-the-line

35. Counterpart to sis 36. Collect fair and square 37. Famous Comedy writer 39. Demon that posessed Sigourney Weaver’s character in “Ghostbusters” 40. “Law and Order” spinoff, in brief 41. A canine’s canine 42. ___ fatale 43. Seesaw 47. Could follow

crime or cut 48. 1987 sci-fi film featuring a titular cyborg law-enforcer 52. Bore 53. Certain land mollusk 55. The loneliest number, per a Harry Nillson lyric 56. Pigmented portion of the eye 57. Texas Tech’s official logo, or an extra clue to 17, 27

DOWN 1. Cats, in Spain 2. Could give you a bad gut feeling 3. Currency in India 4. Future title for a female fiancee 5. “Oh ___ can you see...”

6. Mark 7. Org. for those who are 50+ 8. Acquiesce, with “in” 9. Fox-like, in common folklore 10. Select 11. Nirvana’s “Nevermind,” for one 12. Immunizer 13. Prefix for graphic or metric 18. Theme park conveyance 22. On-air 24. 2000 Eminem single that samples Dido’s “Thank You” 25. “___ but a scratch” 26. Weather ____ (wind indicator) 28. A dance it takes two to do 29. Decay 30. What actors audition for 31. Cream of the crop 32. Listen in

33. Genre for “Serial” 37. Truth’s counterpart in a common party game 38. Could precede farm or eater 39. Round number?

41. ___ shui, Chinese philosophy of harmonizing with the environment 42. Only month of the year that can pass without a full moon, abbr.

44. Made fun of 45. Walk, as through heavy snow 46. Fast food option 49. Amber or amethyst 50. Player who formed a famous basketball duo with Bryant 51. Trivial 53. Could precede dig or guard 54. 40-day fasting period 56. Tax collection org.

57. “Not yet decided,” briefly 58. Mixed martial arts org.

59. ___-ray A playable online version of this crossword and its solution are available at dailytoreador.com/ puzzles.

I have to deal with this team under-utilizing the careers of new greats like Prescott, linebacker Micah Parsons and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb.

Going into the 2024 offseason, I have the same feeling I always get.

No matter who the team signs, drafts or hires, the inevitable will happen come January the following year.

Until new ownership takes over, or Jones changes his mindset on how to run the franchise, the cycle will continue. @AndrewG_DT

DT Crosswords, now three days a week: Online mini crosswords will be uploaded to dailytoreador. com/puzzles every Monday, Wednesday and Friday beginning Jan. 26.

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PAGE 5 THURSDAY, Jan. 25, 2024

NEWS

PSYCHOLOGY

Anatomy of a New Year’s resolution

By NATHAN KENISON Copy editor

With packed schedules and extracurricular commitments, it can be difficult for college students to formulate and stick to realistic New Year’s resolutions.

As January draws to a close, some Red Raiders already may be seeing their resolutions falling by the wayside.

Jessica Alquist, director of experimental psychology at Texas Tech, said this dropoff may be a function of the students’ surroundings rather than the resolutions themselves.

“Trait self-control is a person’s dispositional ability to do things in line with their goals even when they don’t feel like it,” Alquist said.

“So what’s cool about people high in trait selfcontrol is the research shows that they actually encounter temptation less often, which suggests that they’re engineering their environment to be less tempting.”

Because attempts at ironclad willpower often fall short, Alquist said instead of attempting to face temptation head-on, students should seek to arrange scenarios where they never face it in the

ADAM MATTER/The Daily Toreador

first place.

“You don’t have to be the kind of person that ignores notifications from an app that’s telling you to buy a bunch of stuff,” Alquist said. “You just have to be the kind of person that turns those notifications off, so that you don’t have that temptation, so that it doesn’t get in your face.”

A similar strategy has helped Tucker Ware, a third-year biology major from Houston, achieve his academic-oriented resolutions.

“One thing I’d do my first year is I’d go to the

library to study without my phone,” Ware said.

“That way there wasn’t even an opportunity to be distracted.”

Additionally, Alquist said mentally tying certain routines to certain environments, such as the library, can help strengthen focus.

“In psychology, what makes something a habit is that the behavior is tied to a specific environmental cue,” Alquist said. “It’s something that reminds us on kind of a nonconscious level. Like, ‘This is what I do here.’

So we don’t have to con-

sciously be like, ‘Okay, normally I might sit on my bed watching TV, but now I have to study.’ It’s harder for our brain to get on board for that.

Whereas if we go to the place where all we do is study, it’s gonna be like ‘That’s what we have to do here.’”

Effective resolutions should be as specific as possible, revolving around concrete goals rather than abstract ideas, Alquist said.

“I think vaguer resolutions are a lot more likely to fall off,” Alquist said. “… If it’s not tied to a spe-

cific time and place and it’s not in your schedule, then it’s a lot less likely to happen.”

However, Alquist said the context of what occurs before and after a task can make or break someone’s commitment to their goals.

“Another one of the main things I study is an idea called ego depletion, and this is the idea that after engaging in one demanding task that requires self control, people become less likely to succeed at one immediately after,” Alquist said. “So if you just put all this effort

into studying for a course that you’re not really interested in, and then your roommate comes home and leaves their dishes somewhere, you’re more likely to snap at them.”

Staggering difficult tasks can keep ego depletion from negatively affecting self-control, Alquist said.

“Another thing that’s really helpful in self-control literature is monitoring. So that just means tracking your progress,” Alquist said. “Having some visual reminder that you did the thing can be really helpful both for continuing your motivation, and as a reminder to do the thing, keeping track of your own progress in a really tangible way.”

Although life changes can be made at any time, Alquist said New Year’s affords a unique opportunity for self reflection, which can start students down a path of self-improvement.

“If we want to make a conscious change, we have to have an idea of what change we want to make, and I think resolutions are really good for helping people consider the changes that they might want to make,” Alquist said. @NathanKenisonDT

DEMOCRACY

Students have options for voting in upcoming elections Tech The Vote offers election assistance

ADAM MATTER/The Daily Toreador

By KAYLA STONE Staff Writer

T h e Te x a s p r i m a r y election will take place March 5. Students will have both on- and offcampus voting options to participate in the election.

Offices featured on the ballot will include U.S. president, senator, representative, railroad commissioner and Supreme Court justice, according to sample ballots provided by the Lubbock County Elections Office website.

Also included on the ballot are several propositions to gather information on each party’s elected officials, Lubbock County Elections Administrator Roxzine Stinson said. “[The ballots] have some propositions,” Stinson said, “which is just basically a survey asking the voters what they would like them to look at

and to pursue during the next legislative session.”

The deadline to register to vote in the Primary Election is Feb. 5. Completed voter applications must be returned to the Lubbock County Elections Office in person, or postmarked by Feb. 5, Stinson said.

“You can go online and do the autofill application,” Stinson said. “You have to print it, sign it and either bring it to us or mail it to us.”

Even if a student already has registered to vote in their home county, they still can choose to register as a Lubbock County resident and cancel their former registration, according to the Lubbock County Elections Office website.

Stinson said if students choose not to register as a voter in Lubbock County, they still have options to vote. “[Students] have until Feb. 23 to request the

ballot by mail from their home county,” Stinson said, “or they have just 11 days of early voting to come to our office and vote (on) what is considered a limited ballot.”

The limited ballot gives students the ability to vote solely on items that both Lubbock and their home county share, Stinson said. The student must be registered to vote in another county to utilize a limited ballot.

“They can only vote on the races that are the same between their county and our county,” Stinson said. “So if there’s anything on there other than that they’re not eligible to vote on it.”

Students can check to see if they are registered to vote in the March 5 Lubbock County primary on the Lubbock County Elections Office website.

Early voting will take place Feb. 20 to March 1.

Stinson said on election day, March 5, student

turnout typically contributes to long lines at Tech’s Student Union Building.

“For this election during early voting, Tuesday, Feb. 20, through Friday, March 1, we’ll be at the Texas Tech Student Recreation Center,” Stinson said. “Then for election day, we’re at the SUB. Be aware that election day tends to be when most of the Tech students turn out and there’s long lines.”

There are also offcampus voting locations available to students, Stinson said.

“We have 39 voting centers this election for election day, [students] can go to any of them,” Stinson said. “Broadway Church, Cavazos Middle School and Lubbock Independent School District are some closer to [students] that they could go vote at.” @KaylaStoneDT

Paralleling the approaching U.S. primary, Texas Tech’s Student Government Association also has its own upcoming elections. Citlali Moya, SGA’s director of outreach, said students will have the opportunity to vote for Tech’s next SGA president, external, internal and graduate vice presidents, college senators and any legislation that needs student support.

Abigail Vega, director of the First Year Leadership Association, said the 59th session is encouraging Tech students to vote in the U.S. primary election through SGA’s director outreach Citlali Moya’s student organization Tech The Vote.

“They just started an organization called Tech The Vote,” Vega said.

“Through that, of course, this new organization has that outreach to encourage students to sign up to vote, to fill out all the forms that they need to, as well as just kind of creating that exposure to elections.”

Tech The Vote will host tabling events Friday and

Feb. 2 to help students who have not already registered to vote in the U.S. primary.

“If you are intrigued in who the individuals are, what kind of changes that they would like to make, coming to the panels that we have and such is definitely going to be vital,” Vega said.

Moya, co-founder of Tech The Vote, said the organization was created to help students be confident and knowledgeable voters.

“Tech The Vote is an organization here on campus that essentially gives students the opportunity to not only register to vote, but also be informed about what they’re voting on,” Moya said. “So whenever they’re going up to the ballot, they feel empowered and they’re not so overwhelmed. They’re not going in blind.”

Vega said Tech students will be able to vote online for the SGA election at ttu.edu/vote, and additional information regarding the elections will be posted to SGA’s social media, specifically Instagram.

COURTESY OF CITLALI MOYA

Page 6 Thursday, JAN. 25, 2024

MAINTENANCE

Residents prep pipes for freezes

By KAYLA STONE Staff Writer

During the belowfreezing weather that accompanies the winter months, students play a major role in keeping system malfunctions to a minimum.

Students in residence halls can protect their pipes during freezing weather if their dorm has a sink or shower, Murray community adviser Paige Boehler said.

“To prevent pipes bursting, you would need to set your room temperature to about 70 degrees and make sure it’s on heat,” Boehler said. “You would open up your cabinets under your sinks to allow the warm air to go underneath there.

You would also drip your sinks in your showers, so that the water is just continuously moving and doesn’t freeze over by just being still.”

Tanya Massey, Texas Tech University Student Housing senior managing director, said there are additional steps students can

take to protect their living spaces.

“Reporting any issues that arise in their space is a key component of minimizing outages and damages,” Massey said, “as well as keeping the heat on and windows closed in all locations, ensuring vents are not blocked and following safety protocols with appliances, as outlined in the ResLife In Hall Policies and Procedures. “ Students with systems to protect in apartments and houses can follow much of the same protocol as those living in dorms.

However, students living in houses have more to pay attention to, said David Benitez, service manager at Bruce Thornton Air Conditioning.

“Students living in the house, they’d have to cover up their outside faucets with insulated covers, to keep them from freezing and busting,” Benitez said.

“The main thing is that water’s got to be moving because it’s harder for water to freeze if it’s got movement. It’s when it’s

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NEWS

stationary that it freezes.”

Housing has worked to prevent further outages due to cold weather since 2021, Massey said.

“After the great Texas freeze of 2021, USH implemented several measures to lessen impact from pipe ruptures in cold weather,” Massey said. “Newer systems like the air handlers at Hulen/Clement and Wall Gates allow for off-site electronic adjustments and monitoring to help address issues in our spaces.”

Housing will continue to monitor the residence halls and provide assistance where possible while the freezing temperatures persist, Massey said.

“Students in the halls also receive email notifications during cold weather spells with tips and requests to help prepare,” Massey said. “We will continue to explore ways to track temperatures in buildings, including attic spaces and mechanical rooms, and provide radiant heat sources where safe.” @KaylaStoneDT

SPIRIT

JACOB LUJAN/The Daily Toreador

Texas Tech sophomore guard Pop Issacs reacts to making a 3-pointer during a Big 12 conference game between No. 25 Tech and No. 20 Brigham Young at the United Supermarkets Arena Jan. 20, 2024.

Crowd spursRedRaiders to victory against BYU

By JAMAR BROOKS SportS reporter

Texas Tech men’s basketball defeated Brigham Young University Saturday following a valiant comeback. With a crowd of 15,098 in attendance, the highest for Tech this season, the Red Raiders were buoyed by a raucous home-court advantage in the United Supermarkets Arena.

With Tech facing its largest halftime deficit this season, sophomore guard Pop Isaacs said the home crowd was a driving force behind the Red Raiders’ 17-point comeback against BYU. “Honestly that crowd

willed us,” Isaacs said. “It wasn’t sold out, but it dang near looked like it was. It was super loud in there. I love playing in this gym, it’s so fun.”

In the process, Isaacs reached a milestone as he ended the night with a career-high 32 points, according to Tech Athletics.

However, Isaacs chose not to speak on his performance, but rather the impact of the USA crowd, which he said contributed to his decision to don the scarlet and black.

“The crowd was amazing, man, that was part of the reason why I committed to Texas Tech,” Isaacs said.

“Just because I knew how live the atmosphere was and how supportive the home crowd was, and the people of Lubbock are, and all the Tech fans are.”

Tech head coach Grant McCasland said the environment in the USA is part of what makes his job special.

“Really a blessing to be a part of this atmosphere, and coach and be around this team every day,” McCasland said. “Because the fight you saw in the second half is the fight you see every day, and the way they love each other.

It’s awesome to be a part of.” @JamarBrooksDT