THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2024 VOLUME 98 ISSUE 9
NEWS
SPORTS
LA VIDA
OPINION
Scantrons pose an inconvenience for some students. Student Government Association attempts to make Scantrons more accessible.
Sophomore and freshman duo in Damion Bravo and TJ Pompey, respectivley, lead Texas Tech baseball’s offense.
Professor Geoffrey Corn uses his experience in military law to teach future generations the nuances and ethical implications of the law.
A staffer at The DT breaks down what it takes to be drafted as an NFL quarterback.
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INDEX NEWS SPORTS SPORTS LA VIDA OPINION
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SAFETY
Simulation aims to increase firefighter response times
MAKAYLA PEREZ/The Daily Toreador
The firefighter simulation team poses for a picture while throwing their Guns Up in the Industrial, Manufacturing & Systems Engineering Building March 6, 2024.
By GRACE HAWKINS Staff Writer
A firefighting simulation study at Texas Tech analyzes aspects of pre-response tactics and achieves a personal mission for the professor conducting the study. Department of Industrial, Man-
ufacturing & Systems Engineering assistant professor Changwon Son and industrial engineering doctoral student Armina Rahman Mim are conducting a study to analyze participants’ responses to an emergency situation. “I came to the U.S. to study more on safety and human cog-
nition,” Son said. “Although I’m an engineering professor, my research tries to address locally and socially relevant problems.” Participants are grouped into teams of three and take part in two 90-minute sessions with multiple missions. The study measures the teams’ trust and self-efficacy, but
also their response time, Son said. In the first session, the team is briefed and given time to practice the simulator with easy scenarios. In the final session, which is scheduled two days after the first, the teams do a more difficult scenario with multiple missions, according to its TechAnnounce page. Son’s study was initially inspired by a 2013 explosion inside the fertilizer facility at West Fertilizer Company. Twenty minutes after 911 was contacted, around 40 to 60 tons of fertilizer-grade ammonium nitrate exploded, according to the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB). “I have a specific problem I want to solve,” Son said. “In the explosion, the incident investigation found that the major causal factor behind the fatalities was the lack of situation awareness and communication among the volunteer firefighters.” A CSB investigation uncovered that many safety precautions were neglected and the volunteer firefighters lacked pre-incident or response training.
“Firefighters who were responding to the fertilizer warehouse, if they were informed that the warehouse had this fertilizer, ammonium nitrate, and it can explode, I think it would have influenced their situational awareness and decision-making,” Son said. In addition to the explosion, an accident within Son’s family shifted his view on workplace treatment, inspiring him to quit his job, return to school and speak about his policies, values and the lessons he learned. Son moved from South Korea to Texas in 2014 and earned his master’s in safety engineering and his Ph.D. in industrial engineering from Texas A&M. He said he saw similar suffering in Lubbock as he did in some South Korea working environments, and wanted to change that. “... my mom, my sister, my brother and I started viewing other employees as if they were my father, my mother, my sister, my brother, my siblings, and myself,” Son said. “It changed my whole life.” @GraceHawkinsDT
SOFTBALL
Love aspires to leave impact
day and give their hopes and dreams of being here.” Love had a fractured In her four years at Texas relationship with the sport Tech, she battled leadership until Craig Snider was hired as changes, losing seasons, injury Tech’s ninth head coach (in the Big 12 era) in 2022. and a global pandemic. “He’s made me love softball After starting 147 career a g a i n ,” L o v e games and said. “I was in with only a spot where nine remainI didn’t want ing in her to play, and I s e n i o r s e a - She’s one of the best didn’t want to s o n , t h i r d third basemen in be at Tech anybaseman Rithe nation. The way more. I think ley Love said he just brought s h e h o p e s she plays the game like that joy to leave her defensively is elite. back in me of mark by giving back to CRAIG SNIDER p l a y i n g a n d having fun, bethe program SOFTBALL HEAD COACH ing with all the and commugirls and stuff nity. “I hope I leave a legacy of like that.” Snider said watching her just being a good teammate and being good to the girls on develop has been a highlight the team and giving back to the of his career and her defensive program,” Love said. “I think prowess is one of a kind. that I leave a legacy on the little girls in Lubbock who dream to SEE SOFTBALL PG. 4 be a college softball player one By ANDREW GOODRICH Staff Writer
Sexual Assault Awareness Month was first nationally observed on 2001 . The intention behind the month is to increase prevention of and response to acts of sexual violence.
Denim Day:
April 24, all day, campus-wide
Take Back the Night: 6 to 9 p.m. on April 24 Memorial Circle
EXHALE:
4 to 7 p.m. on April 25 Student Enrichment Center
OUTREACH
School of Law receives funding for Veterans Legal Clinic By CHRISTIAN JETER Staff Writer
Following a $1.6 million donation by the William A. Brookshire Foundation, the Texas Tech School of Law will establish its Veterans Legal Clinic, which will specialize in assisting former members of the military. Clinics are programs within the School of Law that give students the opportunity to assist clients in real cases. There are nine other clinics under Tech’s law school, which are designed to help low-income residents of West Texas. The new Veterans Legal Clinic will specialize in
various areas that can affect servicemen and women, including retirement, increasing rank, criminal charges, disability claims, discharge upgrades, health concerns and education benefits. Jack Nowlin, dean of the School of Law, and W. Frank Newton, professor of law, explained why the donation was received and what problem areas they’re looking to address. “Lawyers are very expensive, but our clinic will be free for veterans,” Nowlin said. “And given that the Brookshire Foundation wanted to support veterans, they’re looking for areas and ways to support them, and
we have veterans in need and we would like another clinic to help those veterans.” Serving as an opportunity for veterans as well as students, Nowlin said, the clinic will allow the opportunity to assist in the real-world problems of veterans. “Clinics are great for our students. A law school clinic is a live-client clinic. So, there’s lots of simulations in law school. There are lots of things that simulate what it’s like to be in court, but these are real clients,” Nowlin said. “And students will actually go to court, and they will handle real legal issues under the supervision of
folks like Dwight McDonald. So portunity for us to expand our there’s real cases, real clients.” footprint and continue to help Clinics under the School the community,” McDonald of Law are typically operated said. “We have a population by 10 students here that’s underand supervised served and not really being served by a practicing at all – which professor. Dwight ... we have veterans McDonald, Tech is our veterans’ in need, and we graduate and now population. We do practicing attor- would like another not have a veterans’ court in Lubn e y, i s s e r v i n g clinic to help those as a Clinic Fel- veterans. bock.” low in the Family McDonald said JACK NOWLIN Law, Housing and the process for SCHOOL OF LAW DEAN former military Criminal Defense Clinics. to alleviate prob“Our clinics are indigent lems regarding their service based. We only represent poor people. But this was an opSEE OUTREACH PG. 2