THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2025 VOLUME 99 ISSUE 9
NEWS
PUZZLE
Continue reading our front page stories inside.
Attempt The DT’s very own crossword with original clues and sneaky hints.
PG 2
PG 3
RAIDER’S CHOICE
SPORTS
LA VIDA
The Texas Tech community voted on local favorites from food to favorite study spots. See the results inside.
Brooke Underdown, a senior at Texas Tech, finished second at the USA Powerlifting Collegiate Nationals. Read more about her journey to success.
Zane Petty, Texas Tech baseball’s starting pitcher, didn’t always have a solidified spot on the roster after injury. Read more about his recovery.
PG 4
PG 5
PG 7
RESOURCES
Tech student details life with, without official diagnosis By MARIANNA SOURIALL Editor-in-ChiEf
Julia Crook often wondered why she couldn’t “just sit down and think” or why she forgot deadlines. More than anything, she wondered why it always felt like she was struggling more than her friends. In college, she wondered why she could focus in biology class but not chemistry or why study techniques didn’t work for her the way they did for others. “Before I had a diagnosis, I
Fort Worth, said before she was diagnosed with autism, she always knew her brain worked differently. She sought out a diagnosis in high school, but her concerns only resulted in an anxiety diagnosis. Unsatisfied, Crook continued to wonder if it might be more than anxiety. It wasn’t until she came to college that she was diagnosed
would just blame myself,” Crook, a Texas Tech biology major, said. “I would struggle in social situations, before I knew I had autism, and I’d think ‘This is all my fault. People hate me because I can’t communicate, because I’m antisocial.’” Crook, a thirdyear student from
with late-in-life autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, also known as ADHD. Jared Burgoon, a program manager within Tech’s Burkhart Center for Autism Education and Research, said it is not uncommon for individuals to receive a late-in-life diagnoses as most K-12 schools do not require a diagnosis unless there is an academic need. “You see individuals who are smart, who can effectively SEE RESOURCES, PG. 2 Graphic by Kayci Sandon / The Daily Toreador According to Texas Autsim Society
MENTAL HEALTH
Student wellness plan set for fall launch By AUDREY BOISSONNEAULT Copy Editor
Early this year, banners and posters flooded the Texas Tech campus with the words “Tech Thrive.” Going into the fall semester, students will see the full effect of those words as the Tech Thrive program launches, introducing a new class, a well-being app and other initiatives meant to improve student wellness. Texas Tech goes through a reaffirmation of accreditation every 10 years, and it requires the university to create a Quality Enhancement Plan. Tech Thrive is the QEP and will have a duration of five years where it will be used to improve the student experience on campus. “We want students to hear the term and know it is designed to support their well-being,” said Jill Stangl, an assistant vice provost for student well-being and co-director for the QEP. “A Quality Enhancement Plan has to be focused on students. It’s not a student, faculty or staff effort. It’s a student effort.” Compared to QEPs of the past, Jaclyn Cravens, an associate professor and co-director for the QEP, said Tech Thrive has a broader scope of what it hopes to accomplish with
an increased focus on student mental health. Part of that increased focus is introducing a new class on mental health and well-being, Cravens said. “Some of the class assignments will have students get out and get across campus and utilize some of those resources,” Cravens said. “We’re really excited about the class, and that’ll kick off this fall and be offered in fall, spring and summer.” Another piece of the plan is the mental health app Schmoody, which the university has already partnered with. Features on the app include a mood tracker, a chat box, a daily planner and more, according to the Schmoody website. Tech Thrive has a designated website, but Stangl said she plans for it to have a directory for every resource available to students at Tech. “Texas Tech has a plethora of resources, but not everybody knows what they are, and so the website is designed to address that,” Stangl said. More will come within the following years, Stangl said, but no specific plans are confirmed as of now. Updates will be posted on the Tech Thrive website once the plan goes into
JADON CHESNUTT/The Daily Toreador
Tech Thrive’s logo is wrapped around a campus bus to raise awareness for Texas Tech’s mental health initiative that is set to launch in the fall.
effect in August. The idea for a mental-health centered QEP stemmed from student data which identified high amounts of loneliness and anxiety, Cravens said. She will follow that same data through the duration of Tech Thrive for any progress made in students.
“Over years of data, students felt less and less like Texas Tech cared about their overall well being,” Cravens said. “We’ve collected this data, and despite the fact, as a campus, we have so many great resources, many students weren’t utilizing them.”
The collected data will be used in the final two years of the program to evaluate the effectiveness of the plans in place. Cravens said from there they will decide what to keep or change.
ONE PILL
Fentanyl responses differ amongst officials, local departments
COURTESY OF THE LUBBOCK COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Fentanyl pills were recovered by the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office.The department started working on pill-form fentanyl in 2020, compared to the previous powder form.
By AYNSLEY LARSEN nEws Editor
“One pill kills.” The tagline is recognizable, and it’s easy to understand: Fentanyl is here, and it’s deadly. But, when it comes to educat-
ing college students on the dangers of yet another widespread lethal substance, experts have varying opinions on how to get their messages across. The Uncensored Capt. Tony Williams of the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office
has presented drug education courses at Tech several times. He said he won’t show up to talk to students wearing a suit and tie because he finds they’re more willing to listen when he’s dressed normal, wearing Jordans and joggers. “When I give this presentation, I’m huge on telling the truth and not sugar coating anything or holding anything back,” Williams said. This truth-based approach includes presenting images of drug dealers previously caught in the region, videos of individuals overdosing on fentanyl and statistics on drug-related deaths. The presence of fentanyl, Williams said, has morphed from the Hollywood powder product to a falsely marketed, largely counterfeit, pill form. “We still work those cases at Tech where kids think they’re getting Adderall, and it’s fentanyl, or it’s a methamphet-
amine-based pill — completely cartoon-charactered pills target counterfeit,” Williams said. a younger age group, Williams These pills often take the said. Fentynal also varies from appearance of blue oxycodone other drugs and narcotics in that M30 tablets, Adderall or Xanax its usage — whether in powder tablets or, perhaps deceptively, or pill form — is seen across candy-esque colors and shapes. different age, race and social Williams said he and his class groups. office have seen two pills in “When it comes to these the same bag be pills, there’s no entirely differd e m o g r a p h i c ,” ent substances, Williams said. enforcing that it The substances is impossible to When it comes to present in these be certain what is these pills, there’s no counterfeit pills demographic. are not always taken. fentanyl, Williams “Kids go CAPT. TONY WILLIAMS said. He has seen through the DARE LUBBOCK COUNTY m e t h a m p h e t (Drug Abuse ReSHERIFF’S OFFICE amine, mixtures sistance Education) program, or and even rat poithey’ll go through some drug son present in capsules marprogram that shows you the keted as less-lethal drugs. hard drugs — meth, heroin, The price of the pills has also crack cocaine,” Williams said. changed, Williams said. What “ … But you get to college, and once sold for $20 to $25 a piece you’ve never seen a SweeTART is now running for $3 to $7. that can kill you.” SEE ONE PILL, PG. 2 The colorful, occasionally