ThePRAIRIE
Vol. 102, Issue 4
September 18, 2018
Serving the West Texas A&M University community since 1919
IS MENTAL ILLNESS A BACKSEAT PRIORITY?
Tova Kibal Features Editor In the spirit of National Suicide Prevention Month, the Prairie wants to dedicate this issue to everyone who has lost their life or someone they love to suicide. According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Sweden’s death rate due to mental
health issues and substance use disorders was 5.9 of every 100,000 people in 2015. In the Netherlands, it was 2.5 and in Canada, 5.8. In the United States, the rate laid at 12.0, a full 7.1 points higher than the average among similarly wealthy countries. On Feb. 12 of this year, President Donald Trump released the budget for the fiscal year of 2019. The
budget presented a cut of $17.9 billion to the Department of Health and Human Services and a $665 million cut to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. “Many of the cuts in the plan are unlikely to become reality: Congress just increased spending Continued on page 14
Illustration by Layce Donnell/The Prairie
New Agricultural Sciences Complex PAGE 3 facebook.com/theprairiewt
In defense of the First Amendment PAGE 6
WT remembers football legend PAGE 7
Meet WT’s shuttle bus drivers PAGE 13
How to make pizza in a mug PAGE 16 @The_Prairie