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THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 2021 VOLUME 95 ■ ISSUE 24

LA VIDA

SPORTS

Burkhart center promotes autism awareness.

BIG 12 reaches midway point of spring slate.

Family, friends provide support system.

OPINIONS

ONLINE Be sure to look out for upcoming cartoons on our social media.

PG 3

PG 5

PG 4

ONLINE

INDEX LA VIDA SPORTS OPINIONS CROSSWORD CLASSIFIEDS SUDOKU

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MEN’S BASKETBALL

Local businesses urge Beard to stay

FILE PHOTOS/The Daily Toreador

LEFT: Texas Tech men’s basketball head coach Chris Beard cheers during the game against Tennessee on November, 21, 2019. Many Lubbock businesses are offering free services to keep Beard at Tech.

TOP: Cast Iron Grill has offered Beard, and all of his coaching staff at Tech, free breakfast for life. BOTTOM: Evie Mae’s offered Beard free barbecue for life if he chose to stay in Lubbock.

By THE DT SPORTS STAFF Texas Tech head basketball coach Chris Beard has been at the forefront of nationwide coaching talks following the Red Raiders’ departure from March Madness.

The news comes after conference rival, Texas, parted ways with its former head coach, Shaka Smart, and some believe Beard will fill the vacancy in Austin.

According to Stadium analyst Jeff Goodman, Beard would be a solid hire for the Longhorns, he said, and the two sides are said to have been in talks.

Under Beard, Tech basketball has seen heights they have never seen before, going to the NCAA Tournament Championships in

2019 and winning a school-record of 31 games on the way, according to Tech Athletics.

Beard has been at Tech since 2016, accumulating a 112-55 record at the helm, and a contract in 2019 was put in place to keep him there for a long time, according to Tech Athletics. He signed a six-year deal to be held through the 2024-25 season that sees him earning $4.575 million annually.

Only three coaches in the country make more.

But no word has been released on Beard’s future by either Tech, Beard or Tech Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt as of March 31.

But while talks are stalled, and the air is rampant with rumors, Lubbockites are doing everything in their power to keep their AP

National Coach of the Year in West Texas.

Mallory Robbins, the owner of Evie Mae’s Barbecue, located at 217 US-62, Wolfforth, said Beard often brings the team to the restaurant.

“He means so much to us and the community, so we just wanted to do something to show him how much he means to Lubbock,” Robbins said. “We know one post from us won’t make him stay or leave, but we felt it was right.”

Robbins and Evie Mae’s are one of a growing chain of small businesses around Lubbock that have offered free services to Beard, and the offers are not shallow, either.

On Sunday, Evie Mae’s BBQ posted on the restaurant’s Twitter that Beard would get barbecue, beer and wings for the rest of his life if

he stayed in Lubbock.

But the offers among all parties did not hold the same core.

Eric Washington, the managing partner at Two Docs Brewing, located at 502 Texas Ave., participated in offering services but had a broader outlook on the situation.

“Communities kind of come together and all these other businesses have done similar things,” he said.

Which in turn showcased how much love and support Beard has garnered throughout his five-year stint at Tech.

Support that trickles from Beard all the way to the university itself.

“We just wanted to kind of show our gratitude,” Washington said.

“And show how serious we were about holding these days and loving

this university. All of our owners are Tech alumni and pretty, pretty crazy fans of all sports at Tech.”

Two Docs Brewing offered Beard free beer for life as long as he stays, according to a Facebook post from the company’s page.

The trend had a looming domino effect, with one company starting it, and the rest following suit.

Little by little, businesses around Lubbock were turning to social media to extend their gratitude and deals to Beard. It started with restaurants, but within hours, every corner of the service industry was struck.

Flatland Carpet Cleaning threw one of the first punches for non-eateries.

SEE BEARD, PG. 5

PROFILE

Kent Hance launches ‘The Best Storyteller in Texas’ podcast

By AMANDA HAMPTON L a Vida Editor

Texas Tech Chancellor Emeritus Kent Hance released his new podcast, “The Best Storyteller in Texas.” The podcast consists of the many stories Hance has to share from his experiences as a U.S. Congressman, lawyer, professor and being elected to the Texas Railroad Commission.

Hance started his education at Tech and graduated in 1965 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

“I loved every minute of my four years of undergrad,” Hance said. “It was a great experience.”

As a first-generation college student, Hance said he values the education he received at Tech. He had many professors who inspired

him and made lifelong friends while attending the university.

“I might be driving a tractor in Dimmit, Texas if I hadn’t come to Texas Tech,” Hance said. “I think it prepared me to be a U.S. Congressman and State Senator and chancellor.”

While he was Chancellor at Tech, Hance said his motto was “Dream no little dreams.”

“I think where Tech is special, above any other school, is that we believe in the individual and try to develop the individual,” Hance said.

“I used to jokingly say, ‘If you’re gonna dream little dreams, you got to go to A&M or Texas.’”

After working a variety of jobs throughout his life and meeting different people along the way, Hance said many people told him to write a book about his experiences.

However, after speaking with some people who work in the journalism industry, he said he decided to start a podcast. He works with a producer in Austin and an editor in San Francisco for the podcast.

“We work together and try to make sure it does right,” Hance said.

The first five podcast episodes were released on March 29, Hance said. The podcast allows him to share his many stories he has accumulated throughout his life.

One of the stories Hance said he tells in the podcast includes when he traveled on Marine One to Camp David to work on the Ronald Reagan tax cuts.

“I carried Reagan’s tax cut when he was president,” Hance said. “The largest tax cut in the history of the country, including the Trump

tax cut.”

He shares his insider information about what it was like working on the tax cut and how the tax cut was constructed, Hance said.

“There are other things I talk about,” Hance said. “I talk about practicing law, talk about representing somebody in a murder case.”

While he does discuss some politics on the podcast, Hance said he does not use the podcast to bash political beliefs or other politicians.

“This is pretty polished. I talk about politics but try to keep from, you know, getting in and just bashing on people. There’s enough of that,” Hance said.

“When I was in Congress, I didn’t hate anybody. I didn’t know anybody that hated somebody.”

Hance said his first guest on

the podcast is Ed Whitacre, a Tech alumnus and his former fraternity brother. Whitacre went on to be CEO and chairman of the board of AT&T. Linda Steele, executive assistant to the chancellor emeritus, said she is excited Hance is starting a podcast because he has many stories to share and believes other people will benefit from hearing them.

Hance already gets to tell some of his stories in his Seminar in Business Leadership course he teaches, Steele said. She looks forward to him having a new platform to share his experiences with new people.

“I want people, as many people as possible, to listen to it, get a good laugh, learn something and be happy when they would listen,” Hance said. @AmandaHamptonDT

FILE PHOTOS/The Daily Toreador

LEFT: Chancellor Emeritus Kent Hance cracks a smile while chatting about his new podcast, “The Best Storyteller in Texas”. RIGHT: Kent Hance delivers the eulogy at E.J. Holub’s memorial service.

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NEWS

APRIL 1, 2021

WWW.DAILYTOREADOR.COM

NEWS

Tech receives grant to improve student success

By HANNAH ISOM news editor

Texas Tech received a grant from the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities to improve student success.

With this grant, individuals involved in the initiative will use a data maturity matrix to improve in three main areas: High-quality digital learning, academic advising and academic readiness support, focusing on transfer students from two-year institutions.

“The purpose of the grant, generally, is to provide meaningful opportunities to support APLU member institutions like Texas Tech to work towards improving student success outcomes,” said Patrick Hughes, vice provost of University Programs and Student Success.

Hughes serves as Tech’s representative, leading one of the groups participating in APLU’s Powered by Publics program.

The cluster of institutions Hughes leads works to promote efficiencies in the production of, access to and insights from, institutional data, he said.

According to the Powered by Publics website, participating institutions work collaboratively to increase college access, eliminate the achievement gap and award more degrees by 2025 using shared data within clusters.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to continue to work with APLU

toward their goals of continuing student success outcomes, and we’re looking forward to attaining good results in our participation,” Hughes said.

Joshua Barron, senior director of Success and Retention at Tech, elaborated on the three main focuses of the initiative.

First, recognizing that, even in face-to-face classes, a significant amount of work is done online by both faculty and students, Barron said. Making sure students have access to course support they need, or textbooks delivered totally online are part of the high-quality digital learning focus of the initiative.

“When you’re thinking of high-quality digital learning, it’s how can we help the students have the best possible experience in the digital environment,” Barron said.

Having a high-quality digital learning experience is important because individuals coming from two-year institutions vary on the amount of technology involved in their schooling, Barron said.

Some may have primarily used a paper textbook while some may have been in a more digital environment than Tech is.

The high-quality digital learning experience is a threepiece triangle made up of student readiness, faculty readiness and technology, Barron said.

“If anyone of those isn’t there, then you’re not going to have a high-quality digital learning

experience,” Barron said.

Advising redesign is another focus of the initiative, Barron said.

Academic advising is widely looked at as clerical work, helping choose courses and register, Barron said. However, though advisors do perform these tasks, they have the capacity to contribute far more to a student’s experience.

“Academic redesign is intended to help, I would say, review academic advising practices, enhance those with best practice models and technologies in ways that better support desired student learning outcomes,” Barron said.

This is key, especially for students transitioning from a two-year to a four-year institution, Barron said, because the students have already invested time and money into being successful in higher education. Guidance regarding concentrations, minors and ideal ways students can spend time outside of class can be helpful for these students.

The academic redesign element recognizes that students have multiple advisors. With technological support, advisors in different departments within the university can communicate with each other and track a student’s academic progress, which helps improve the quality of the meetings between advisor and student.

This can help an advisor better equip and empower students, Barron said.

“If a student’s well equipped (then) they can be empowered to feel like they are the CEO of their educational enterprise,” Barron said.

The third, and final, focus of the initiative is academic readiness support, Barron said. The other two focuses flow from this.

“Helping students to be ready to receive support is an enormous challenge for an institution because, like I mentioned before, a lot of folks are not excited about saying, ‘I need help,’” Barron said.

There are many campus resources, like tutoring and the University Career Center, that students pay for in their tuition, which are there to support students, Barron said.

These three elements, when addressed together can do an effective job of making sure Tech is helpful to transfer students.

“All students benefit when we do these things better,” Barron said, “and that’s the part that I honestly am excited about.”

While the grant from APLU helps Tech to focus more on a specific population, Barron said he expects that any fruits that come from this initiative will eventually benefit all students.

Darryl James, vice provost for Institutional Effectiveness, provided more information re-

garding how data is used to improve student success and learning outcomes.

Tech is the leader of Cluster 13 in the Powered by Publics initiative, James said. This cluster is the data integration cluster.

“The focus of that is to try to figure out ways, how do we leverage data to improve student success,” James said.

Those involved with the initiative at Tech try to understand data to improve in the three focus areas of the APLU grant. For example, improving the Strive System used by faculty and students in advising, making it available for both to provide feedback on the system.

Additionally, they can use data to determine what problems there may be, or if a student may need to consider tutoring, James said.

The priority is the student, James said. Figuring out ways to engage students, ways students can be active in knowing their advisors, knowing faculty and trying to understand ways Tech and its students can be more successful.

“The theme is, what can we do to improve student success and utilizing data to do that,” James said. “So, this initiative really provides us with funds to continue in that endeavor.”

Tech is on the advanced end of using data and leveraged data to improve student success, James said, some

Vice Provost Darryl James

Vice Provost Patrick Hughes

institutions are just starting.

They use what is called a data maturity matrix, which evaluates where an institution is regarding how well they utilize data across the campus to improve student success.

“If you look at strategic priority number one, what do we want to do, we want to educate and empower a diverse student body and really this supports that,” James said. “To try and make sure across the board all of our students have the possibility to be successful.” @HannahIsomDT

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Biden announces infrastructure plan to ’win the future’ President Joe Biden on Wednesday outlined a $2.3 trillion plan to reengineer the nation’s infrastructure over the next eight years in what he billed as “a once in a generation investment in America” that would undo his predecessor’s signature legislative achievement of

giant tax cuts for corporations in the process.

Speaking at a carpenters union training center in Pittsburgh, Biden drew comparisons between his hardhatted proposed transformation of the U.S. economy and the space race — and promised results as grand

in scale as the New Deal or Great Society programs that shaped the 20th century.

“It’s not a plan that tinkers around the edges,” Biden said. “It’s a once-ina-generation investment in America unlike anything we’ve seen or done since we built the interstate highway

system and the space race decades ago. In fact, it’s the largest American jobs investment since World War II. It will create millions of jobs, good-paying jobs.”

White House officials say the spending would generate those jobs as the country shifts away from fossil fuels and combats the perils of climate change. It is also an effort to compete with the technology and public investments made by China, which has the world’s second-largest economy and is fast gaining on the United States’ dominant position.

“I’m convinced that if we act now, in 50 years people are going to look back and say this is the moment when America won the future,” Biden said.

Funding for the infrastructure projects would come from a hike on corporate taxes that would aim to raise the necessary piles of money over 15 years and then reduce the deficit going forward. In doing so, Biden would undo the action by Trump and congressional Republicans to lift the corporate tax rate to 28% from the 21% rate set in a 2017 overhaul.

“Ninety-one Fortune 500 Companies, including Amazon, pay not a single solitary penny in income tax,” Biden said.

Page 3 thursday, April 1, 2021

CAMPUS

LA VIDA

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Burkhart Center promotes autism awareness

By MADELEINE HALL Staff Writer

April is Autism Awareness Month, which means there are many opportunities for students to get involved and volunteer. One main advocate for the month is the Burkhart Center for Autism at Texas Tech, which works with autistic students and young adults.

Autism is believed to be a genetic disorder, affecting approximately one in 54 children in the U.S. as of 2020, according to the Center for Disease Control. Autism affects all ethnic and socioeconomic groups and can be detected in children as young as two years old.

The Burkhart Center on the Tech campus has worked with autistic individuals and their families since it opened in 2005. The center’s mission is “to increase the quality of life for individuals with autism and their families by providing services, preparing educators and conducting research,” according to the Burkhart Center website.

“Mr. and Mrs. Burkhart, the founders of the Burkhart

Center, had an autistic grandson and saw a lack of education and information at the time about autism spectrum disorder,” Janice Magness, the interim co-director of the Burkhart Center and the director of the center’s Transition Academy, said. “They wanted parents of children with autism to have access to free lectures and education which the center provides.”

The Burkhart Center offers many programs such as the Transition Academy, which helps graduated young adults build skills and enter into the workforce, the CASE (Connections for Academic Success and Employment) program, which offers mentorships and internship opportunities, an outpatient clinic and a mobile outreach clinic, Magness said.

The biggest event the Burkhart Center hosts for Autism Awareness Month is the annual walk for autism awareness.

This year’s walk is virtual due to COVID-19 and is a two-day event on April 24 and 25.

The first day of the event includes a drive-through walk

kit pickup party with music, special guests, T-shirts and goodies. The second day will be when the walk itself is being hosted virtually, according to the center’s website.

“We’re encouraging people to walk in the community or in their neighborhoods wearing their shirts since we can’t have a walk together as we have in years past,” Magness said.

Many local businesses and Tech students organizations usually participate in and volunteer for the walk when it is hosted in person to raise awareness of autism and celebrate those with autism and those around them.

“I participated in the walk a few years ago before COVID-19 hit, and it was a really great experience,” Benjamin Marks, a senior education major from Waco, said. “It’s so amazing to see the community come together to support our peers.”

In addition to the virtual walk, the Burkhart Center will also be lit up with blue lights at night for the month of April in honor of Autism Awareness

Month, Magness said.

Students are also able to get involved in support of the month through the various programs hosted by the Burkhart Center.

“Every month we host a parent’s night out where we watch over their children with autism and their siblings for a few hours for free to give parents a date night,” Magness said. “It’s become very popular, and students are always welcome to volunteer to help with the night.”

Although more information and education about autism has become available over the years, it is still important to spread awareness and celebrate the month,” Ava Loren, a sophomore dance major from Sugar Land, said.

“In my opinion, autism doesn’t make anyone less than or really all that different when it comes down to it,” Loren said. “I think Autism Awareness Month is important because there shouldn’t be a stigma around the topic, we should support one another no matter what.” @MadeleineHallDT

ASSOCIATED PRESS

EXPLAINER: Questions remain about border conditions DONNA, Texas (AP) — The Biden administration’s decision this week to allow journalists to see Customs and Border Protection’s main holding center for unaccompanied migrant children answered some questions about the conditions they are being held in but raised others.

Here are some of the takeaways from Tuesday’s visit to the facility in Donna, Texas, by The Associated Press and CBS. HOW ARE CONDITIONS? It would be impossible to compare the conditions of children migrants being held now with previous years without unfettered access to facilities, which hasn’t happened under any administration.

What’s clear is that the Donna facility, which opened Feb. 9, is tremendously overcrowded. It was holding more than 4,100 migrants on Tuesday in space designed for only 250 under federal guidelines to contain the spread of COVID-19. More than 3,400 were unaccompanied children and the rest were parents and their children.

Rooms walled with plastic partitions and designed for 32 children held more than 500 on Tuesday. Children sat on mats with foil blankets, chatting quietly. Doors to

the rooms were open but children had no space to

roam around or play games.

A room for children ages 3

to 9 allowed for more movement in a walled playpen.

OPINIONS

Page 4 Thursday, April 1, 2021

COLUMN

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Family, friends provide support system P

arents, parental figures and our family deserve so much more recognition and love for what they have done for college students. Close your eyes and think of a person who has helped you get here. To Texas Tech, to your career, to wherever you are in your life.

That parental figure has sacrificed so much to help you achieve your dreams.

Staying up late to help with your multiplication tables. Driving you and your friends to the movies or to

Mateo Rosiles is a junior journalism major from Lubbock

a football game. They did it all because of their unconditional love they have for your and their willingness to see you succeed in life.

You may not see eye to eye on every single thing, believe me I know. But that did not stop them from encouraging you to pursue

your passions. They have taught us the hard lessons in life, but they also showed you what you could be.

COVID-19 may have ruined a whole year for me, but it sure did show me how much my parents mean to me. But it also taught me, just how college taught me, what family truly means to me.

We may be born into our biological family, but for some, family may not be that. They are family by birth, but that does not stop us from choosing life long friends who are with

us through the highs and lows in life.

The ones who cheer us on to achieve our dreams and the ones who will be there when we fall. That is my family. That is that family I choose to add to my biological family.

Whether family or friends, we have those who have impacted our lives in a positive way. It is time that we show our appreciation.

This Easter weekend, take time to call your parents, friends or those who you love and tell them thank

you. Thank you for helping me be who I am today.

That parental figure has sacrificed so much to help you achieve your dreams.

Even if you do not celebrate Easter, tell them thank you. Take this time to thank those who have impacted your life. Even if it is your friends, tell them thank you. Show any

amount of appreciation to them so you. It will go a long way.

We are now at a point where it is time to show our appreciation to those who have helped through this trying time. They have made us who we are.

Without a parental figure or our family, we would not be who we are. We would not know how to love, to be kind and to live life to its fullest potential.

So, mom and dad, thank you. @MateoRosilesDT

CARTOON

COLUMN

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EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief Chase Seabolt (806) 742-3395 editor@dailytoreador.com Managing Editor Mallory Rosetta managing@dailytoreador.com News Editor Hannah Isom news@dailytoreador.com La Vida Editor Amanda Hampton features@dailytoreador.com Sports Editor Zach Richards sports@dailytoreador.com Opinions Editor Mateo Rosiles opinions@dailytoreador.com Multimedia Editor Chase Seabolt photo@dailytoreador.com Digital Content Manager Ana Arthur online@dailytoreador.com Copy Editor Emma Sipple online@dailytoreador.com

BREAKING NEWS Email dailytoreador@ttu.edu, call (806) 742-3393 or tweet information to @DailyToreador.

Wellness days should continue post pandemic Chyna Vargas is a freshman journalism major from San Antonio.

A positive change that Texas Tech brought to their students was the introduction of wellness days. They originally intended to be a replacement for a week-long spring break and the overall purpose for them has been extremely successful.

Just when schoolwork was getting too much to manage, a wellness weekend was around the corner to ease the stress. Whether that be a canceled day of school on Friday or Monday.

Instead of a normal weekend, three days were given to students to get ahold of their bearings.

These weekends should become normal after the pandemic. Every month or even every other month, a three-day weekend for mental health is needed regardless of a pandemic or not.

The pandemic has brought attention to college students and their well-being and recognizing that our mindsets are

not just focused on school.

While we wish that was the case, real-world problems seep into our everyday lives. The pandemic being one of them.

The future prevails in fall 2021 the pandemic will no longer be as much of occupancy in our lives.

However, the pandemic should not be the only excuse to give students a deserved break.

Some holidays come and go every year, but those are stressful. Christmas and Thanksgiving break can only be enjoyed after exams are taken and hoping you did well on those tests.

Without those factors, the season becomes less joyful and more mournful for your college grades.

These holidays should still be implemented but additional weekends should be as well. Students need to recover from busy weeks or simply need to see family for a quick trip in between semesters. College already makes it difficult to do so when tests, homework or projects are given every week.

For students to succeed and show their full potential, Tech needs to continue

the distribution of wellness days. With them, no one can truly burn out. Wellness days become recovery days, healing days and selfawareness days.

If they are so randomly placed throughout the academic year, it allows students to breathe and not worry about exams or projects that are typically due at the end of each semester.

While they were given to compensate for the cancellation of a true weeklong spring break, spring break and the wellness days each month should continue.

Tech made the wellness days appear more attractive than a typical spring break. By the Student Government Association handing out self-care items, giving student discounts to local restaurants and providing activities to do on the wellness day.

That was the case for each wellness day we had each month. Those gifts or incentives are little but made a huge impact on the Tech community.

By continuing these wellness days, students will not be mentally exhausted early in the semester. Even without a pandemic occur-

ring, there are still daily obstacles students are forced to deal with.

Wellness days can aid and support students. Even if a wellness day is not spent with other individuals, it is important to remember that they provide solitude.

According to the safe college’s website, suicide is the second-highest cause of death among college students. Colleges can use their platform to prevent that statistic. Especially Tech with the implementation of wellness days.

These weekends should become normal after the pandemic.

Self-care is so crucial in college. With trying to balance life and school, students tend to forget how to take care of themselves.

By providing wellness days, Tech would be supportive and allowing students to think about themselves.

At certain times, it is completely acceptable to be selfish. There tends to be a negative connotation with

it, but when it comes to one’s health, being selfish is needed.

Te c h w a s a w a r e o f the exhaustion students would have if there was not a spring break to look forward to. Tech should continue to be mindful and aware that mental health goes beyond a pandemic.

Wellness days would give students something to look forward to that is not a weeklong break, but a quick picker-upper. That weekend would let students recharge and carry on successfully through the semester without burnout.

Students are already taking an important step in their lives by being at university. In order to help students, feel encouraged and supported throughout their college career is for Tech to continue wellness days beyond the pandemic.

Three-day breaks every month are a small sacrifice when the overall outcome is better for the student’s wellbeing. After all, students are the reflection of the university. What Tech gives out to their students is reciprocated through their work. @ChynaVargasDT

CORRECTIONS The DailyToreador strives for accuracy and fairness in the reporting of news.

If a report is wrong or misleading, a request for a correction or clarification may be made by calling (806) 742-3393 or emailing dailytoreador@ttu.edu.

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION © Copyright 2020TexasTech University Student Media/The Daily Toreador. All DT articles, photographs and artwork are the property of The DT and Student Media and may not be reproduced or published without permission. The DailyToreador is a designated public forum. Student editors have the authority to make all content decisions without censorship or advance approval.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Pfizer says its COVID-19 vaccine protects younger teens Most COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out worldwide are for adults, who are at higher risk from the coronavirus. Pfizer's vaccine is authorized for ages 16 and older.

But vaccinating children of all ages will be critical to stopping the pandemic — and helping schools, at least the

LETTERS The Daily Toreador welcomes letters from readers. Letters must be no longer than 300 words and must include the author’s name,

upper grades, start to look a little more normal after months of disruption.

In the vaccine study of 2,260 U.S. volunteers ages 12 to 15, preliminary data showed there were no cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated adolescents compared to 18 among those given dummy shots,

signature, phone number, student ID number and a description of university affiliation. Students should include year in school, major and hometown. We reserve the right to edit letters. Anonymous letters will not be accepted for publication. All letters will be verified before they are published. Letters can be emailed to dailytoreador@ ttu.edu or brought to 180 Media and Communication. Letters should be sent in before 3 p.m. to ensure the editors have enough time to verify and edit the submission.

Pfizer reported.

It's a small study, that hasn't yet been published, so another important piece of evidence is how well the shots revved up the kids' immune systems. Researchers reported high levels of virusfighting antibodies, somewhat higher than were seen in studies of young adults.

Kids had side effects similar to young adults, the company said. The main side effects are pain, fever, chills and fatigue, particularly after the second dose. The study will continue to track participants for two years for more information about longterm protection and safety.

Dr. Philip J. Landrigan

GUEST COLUMNS The Daily Toreador accepts submissions of unsolicited guest columns. While we cannot acknowledge receipt of all columns, the authors of those selected for publication will be notified. Guest columns should be no longer than 650 words in length and on a topic of relevance to the university community. Guest columns are also edited and follow the same guidelines for letters as far as identification and submittal.

of Boston College said the results are encouraging.

"It's hard to get kids to comply with masking and distancing, so something that gives them hard protection and takes them out of the mix of spreading the virus is all for the good," said Landrigan, who was not involved in the study.

EDITORIALS Unsigned editorials appearing on this page represent the opinion of The DailyToreador. All other columns, letters and artwork represent the opinions of their authors and are not necessarily representative of the editorial board, Texas Tech University, its employees, its student body or the Board of Regents. The DailyToreador is independent of the College of Media and Communication. Responsibility for the editorial content of the newspaper lies with the student editors.

SPORTS

@TheDT_Sports www.dailytoreador.com

SOCCER

Page 5 Thursday, april 1, 2021

Big 12 reaches midway point of spring slate

By ARIANNA FLORES Staff Writer

The Big 12 soccer teams are halfway through their 2020 season, and the leader boards and conference records are being recorded. Each week the Big 12 teams compete with one another to try and finish the season with the most points and victories.

West Virginia leads the Big 12 with a 4-1-0 record, according to Big 12 Sports. Oklahoma State is the only team this season to beat the Mountaineers in a 2-1 double-overtime victory. The Red Raiders lost to West Virginia while in Lubbock with a 1-2 loss, according to Tech Athletics.

The Mountaineers have allowed five goals and have scored 11 goals so far this season, according to Big 12 Sports.

West Virginia has the third most shots with 71 in the Big 12 along with averaging 6.20 goals per game Texas Christian has the second-best record in the conference with a 3-0-1 record, according to Big 12 Sports. Though the Horned Frogs have not lost a match, they tied 0-0 in double overtime against Baylor in their first match of the season.

TCU senior midfielder Yazmeen Ryan leads the Big 12 with 17 shots and averages 4.25 shots per game, according to Big 12 Sports. Ryan also leads in game-winning goals

BEARD

CONTINUED FROM PG. 1 Partial owner, Ryland Thomas, said his business partner’s wife, who runs the company’s social media, saw BeefO-Brady’s do it, and thought her customers would respond well; and that they did.

“Our customers just responded like crazy,” Thomas said. “And so that’s, that’s kind

with two and has four points so far this season.

Oklahoma State holds a 3-11 conference and overall record after tying Baylor 0-0 and losing to Oklahoma 1-2, according to Big 12 Sports. Cowgirls sophomore midfielder Olyvia Dowell is behind Ryan with 20 shots in five games and averages four shots per game.

Senior Cowgirls forward Gabriella Coleman is tied with a West Virginia player for the most goal so far this season with three goals in five games, according to Big 12 Sports.

Coleman also has the secondmost shots on goal with nine, averaging 1.80 per game.

Kansas has a 3-1 record in the Big 12 and in four games have three goals and two assists, according to Big 12 Sports. The Jayhawks are averaging two points per game and have a total of 34 shots with 17 of those being shots on goal.

The fifth-best record in the Big 12 is held by Baylor with a 1-1-3, according to Big 12 Sports. Though the Bears have not had more than one victory, they have the second-most shots in the conference with 73. Baylor has three goals in five games and has allowed two goals to reach the back of their net.

Freshman forward Mackenzie Anthony is the only Baylor player on the individual leader board for the Big 12, according to Big 12 Sports. Anthony has

11 shots on goal, the most in the conference, and averages 2.20 shots on goal per game.

Iowa State and Texas both hold a 2-3 record, according to Big 12 Sports. The Cyclones have four goals in five games and have 44 shots this season. Iowa State has 13 points but has allowed six goals to reach their net.

Texas has the ninth most saves in the conference with 18 in five games, according to Big 12 Sports. The Longhorns have a total of nine goals in five games and have allowed six goals this season.

Freshman forward Presley Echols has earned the most points in the Big 12 with five points in the three games she has played. Echols has two goals and one assist for Texas along with her teammate junior midfielder Julia Grosso who has five points in five games.

Tech is eighth in the Big 12 standings with a 0-2-2 record and has three goals in four games, according to Big 12 Sports. In those four matches, the Red Raiders have allowed five goals to be scored against them but have 20 saves this

of what sparked it.”

They offered Beard free carpet cleanings for life, he said. A response to Beard’s relentlessness and desire on the court that has led Tech’s basketball program to recent success.

Beard’s name, however, is not only household in Lubbock.

All the way over in Wisconsin, his name lingers as well.

“We lived in Wisconsin; in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and

people knew about him while we were over there.” Destiny Adams, partial owner of Tumbleweed and Sage Coffeehouse, said.

Adams said even in Milwaukee, she experienced Red Raider fans at bars and was able to meet alumni.

But once settled down in Lubbock, Adams has a chance to thank Beard from the hands of her own craft - offering free pastries and coffee, she said.

“Obviously, we can’t donate too much as alumni, but I can make coffee.” Adams said. “As a small business owner, that’s the least we can do for a Lubbock icon like Chris Beard.”

Over 20 businesses have showed their support for Beard and backed his decision to stay at the head of Tech basketball. But ultimately, the decision will come down to only Beard himself.

FILE PHOTO/The Daily Toreador

Junior defender Cassie Hiatt kicks the ball during the Texas Tech vs. West Virginia game on Oct. 9, 2020, at the John Walker Soccer Complex. Tech is currently ranked eighth in the Big 12 with a 0-2-2 record.

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of those goals against the Red Raiders in the 2-2 tie earlier this season.

Kansas State is the only team that has lost every match so far this season with a 0-4 conference and overall record, according to Big 12 Sports. The Wildcats have one goal and one assist in four games along with three total points.

Kansas State has the most goals scored against them in the Big 12 with 15 goals allowed, according to Big 12 Sports. The Wildcats also have the least amount of shots in the conference with 29 shots.

“All Big 12 games are so unpredictable, I mean any team can win at any moment,” sophomore defender Hannah Anderson said.

The Red Raiders return to Fort Worth at 7 p.m. on Friday for their match against TCU. The match will be streamed to ESPN+ subscribers. @AriannaFloresDT

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season. Tech has eight points so far this year, averaging two points per game.

Junior midfielder Charlotte Teeter is third in the conference for the most points after scoring two goals and one assist.

Teeter has five points with the Red Raiders. Senior forward Kirsten Davis has 16 total shots with nine shots on goal for Tech. The Red Raiders have five more games this season, according to Tech Athletics.

Oklahoma holds a 0-2-1 record and has only played three games so far this season, according to Big 12 Sports. The Lady Sooners have played the least amount of games among the Big 12 conference with only three completed games.

In those three games, OU has 16 saves and allowed four goals from their opponents, according to Big 12 Sports.

The Lady Sooners are the only team in the Big 12 without any assists but they have recorded two goals this season with both

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Monteverde, Dallas headline Red Raider pitching staff

By NICO SANCHEZ Staff Writer

The No. 4 Red Raiders have been on a roll after starting the season 0-3 at the State Farm College Baseball Showdown in Arlington. Since then, they have won 19 of their last 20 games.

One of the biggest surprises of the year and one of the key pieces to Tech’s turnaround has been the rise of redshirt senior LHP Patrick Monteverde. In six starts, the 23 year-old Seton Hall transfer has dazzled to the tune of a 5-0 record, 0.75 ERA, and 0.667 WHIP in 36.0 innings pitched, according to Baseball-Reference.

With Tech approaching the midway point in the season, Monteverde has completely separated himself from the rest of the Red Raider rotation as the ace of the staff, a staff that boasts the fourth-best team ERA in the Big 12 heading into April. Tech as a team has a 3.64 ERA through 21 games.

Monteverde’s fastball, which sits typically between 90-92mph, and above-average control of his breaking ball has helped propel him to this impressive start.

He has also benefited from the Red Raiders’ potent defense, which has turned a conferenceleading 24 double plays through its 21 games.

Head coach Tim Tadlock said before the season the key to Monteverde’s success would be his ability to get ahead in the count, and that has stuck with him this year.

“Getting that first pitch strike … I mean, that’s the world of difference for me, just being from 0-1 to

1-0 (in the count),” Monteverde said after his most recent start. “I’m not going to be a guy that’s going to blow you away. So just getting (ahead) 0-1 and kind of getting the hitter in an early hole really helps me out”.

Monteverde is the team leader in ERA out of everyone who has pitched more than 10.0 innings, according to Tech Athletics, and he leads the team outright in wins, strikeouts, innings pitched, WHIP and SO/W. His five wins put him in a first-place tie with Oklahoma State’s Parker Scott for most in the conference, and his 0.75 ERA is good for first among pitchers who have thrown 30.0 innings or more, and second in the conference overall.

Furthermore, in the Big 12, he ranks third in opponent’s batting average, fifth in total innings pitched and sixth in strikeouts.

“Between (Monteverde) and Braxton (Fulford), those guys working together, and Matt (Gardner) calling the game you know, obviously when a guy can add and subtract like that, locate the fastball it’s fun to watch,” Tadlock said after Monteverde’s most recent start.

The southpaw is on track to have his best career season in D-1 baseball. In his last two years at Seton Hall, Monteverde only managed four total starts due to injury.

His first season for the Pirates in 2018 was his best, according to Tech Athletics, when he went 4-3 with a 3.04 ERA in 71.0 innings pitched. He started 14 games that year.

The only game started

by Monteverde this season in which the Red Raiders did not emerge victorious was opening day against the now-No. 2 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks.

In that contest, he was pulled after 4.0 scoreless innings and 64 total pitches. After his departure, Tech’s bullpen would give up 13 earned runs to the Razorbacks en route to the opening day loss.

Since that game he has tossed at least 5.0 innings in every one of his starts, including a few 7.0 inning appearances and has thrown at least 75 pitches in each one of those contests. His ERA is yet to eclipse 0.93 all season, according to Tech Athletics.

In his one and only start of the year against Big 12 competition he excelled.

Against then, No. 14 Oklahoma State, Monteverde tossed 6.0 innings of one-run baseball, striking out three along the way.

That game and the Arkansas game have been his only appearances against nationally ranked squads.

Monteverde hails from Pittsburgh, and Tech fans have taken note and are bringing some of Pittsburgh’s traditions to West Texas.

Before his most recent start against South Florida, a large portion of fans behind home plate started waving terrible towels in his honor.

Terrible towels are a famed tradition in Pittsburgh sports where fans often wave the yellow towels to excite themselves and their team during Pittsburgh Steeler games.

“It was awesome,” Monteverde said. “Bringing Pittsburgh down to Lub-

bock, they say it’s Steeler nation. And yeah, it was pretty cool to see. I gave (those fans) a little salute after the first inning”.

In that first inning, Monteverde would come up one pitch short of a spotless inning. He struck out the side in 10 pitches, all of which were strikes.

“The fans are great.

Seems like every Saturday, you know, it’s almost sold out or sold out,” Monteverde said, “And I mean, it’s no secret. The fans are always buying my back, and I can’t ask for anything more.”

In both of his last two starts, Monteverde was pulled for sophomore Micah Dallas. In each of those games, Dallas would be the only reliever to appear in the contest.

After starting the year as a weekend starter, he has found himself excelling most this year coming out of the bullpen. Dallas came out of the bullpen in every one of his appearances in the shortened 2020 season.

Tadlock had said earlier in the season that he would like to get a look at Dallas paired up with another starter, and so far, that starter has been Monteverde.

The 6-foot-2-inch righty tossed 3.0 innings of onerun baseball against Oklahoma State in his first appearance in relief of Monteverde, earning his first save of the season along the way, and threw 2.0 scoreless innings against South Florida in his most recent appearance.

“The high leverage situations, I live for that,” Dallas said after his save against the Cowboys.

“When I’m up there especially, I have the confi-

FILE PHOTO/The Daily Toreador

Sophomore pitcher Micah Dallas throws a pitch against Houston Baptist on Feb. 14, 2020, at Dan Law Field in Rip Griffin Park. Tech baseball will next travel to face Kansas State at 6 p.m. on April 1. dence that there’s no one else in the world that, you know, our team would rather have up there when I’m up there in a high leverage situation. And you know that may not be the case, but that’s what my mentality is”.

Across those two games he struck out eight batters and only walked one.

He currently sports a 1-1 record and a 1.74 ERA on the season to go along with his lone save, according to Tech Athletics. His first three appearances of the season came as a starter, while the last three have come as a reliever.

Dallas has the second lowest ERA on the team, behind only Monteverde, among pitchers who have seen 10.0 innings or more of work so far. According to Tech Athletics, he ranks fourth on the team in strikeouts and innings pitched as well.

“We like him at any

time,” Tadlock said. “He’s aggressive, gonna pitch ahead in the count, obviously has, you know, the wipe-out breaking ball to go with it. (We) like everything about it, you know.

Probably the number one trait is just his aggressiveness.”

As they are arguably the one and two best pitchers on the staff, the Monteverde-Dallas pairing is one that has the potential to be something truly special for Tech down the stretch of this season.

The Red Raiders team will be back in action Thursday night against the Kansas State Wildcats, while Monteverde’s next start, and potentially Dallas’ next appearance, is expected to be Friday in game two of the series.

That game and series will be streamed on ESPN+. @NicoSanchezDT