THURSDAY, OCT. 17, 2024 VOLUME 99 ISSUE 3
NEWS
SPORTS
PUZZLE
LA VIDA
Local police detail most common crimes over Halloween weekend and ways to stay safe.
Redshirt junior Macy Blackburn and senior Cassie Taylor are leading Texas Tech soccer’s back line.
Take a break from reading with The DT’s original crossword and sudoku.
Texas Tech’s CrossFit program fosters community through exeresis.
INDEX
PG 2
PG 3
PG 4
PG 5
NEWS SPORTS PUZZLE LA VIDA
2 3 4 5
SERVICE
Tri Delta philanthropy speaks to Fetner’s heart By SAMANTHA GARCIA Staff Writer
Ellie Fetner was 11 when she was diagnosed with leukemia. Now seven years recovered, her Tri Delta sorority donates to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital where she raises money for kids fighting the same battle she did. “In May 2015, I got super sick. They thought I had the flu at first,” Fetner said. “The doctors ran a blood test, got the results back and decided to transfer me to Texas Children’s Hospital.” The doctors ran a bone marrow test, she said, after which a team of doctors came into her room to tell her she had leukemia. Following the diagnosis, Fetner began chemotherapy treatment to fight the cancer. “My treatment was two-anda-half years long. The first eight months were the most intense,” Fetner said. “I finished in September 2017. The hardest part was going back to school after missing the whole sixth grade.” Fetner is now a third-year human sciences major at Texas Tech and is studying to eventually become a nurse. Fetner said she was inspired
after her treatment to help kids going through what she also endured. “My nurse practitioner introduced me to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society,” the Houston native said. “They have a student of the year competition. I was the team leader, and we raised $80,000 in seven weeks.” When Fetner started college, she decided Tri Delta would be the sorority for her after learning of their philanthropy. “I am so glad I went to Tri Delta. The main reason I chose it was because of philanthropy,” Fetner said. “My junior year, I ran for director of philanthropy, and my goal this year is to raise $100,000 for St. Jude.” Tri Delta hosted a pancake event on Sept. 16, and Fetner said with the support of her sorority sisters, she saw a great outcome. “We just had our first event, the pancake event. We raised $20,000, which was really good,” Fetner said. “The girls are awesome. They respect and want to fundraise because they have heard my story. They have been so welcoming and supportive.” In honor of Tri Delta raising money for St. Jude, the sorority was awarded a short-term housing
JACOB LUJAN/The Daily Toreador
Ellie Fetner, a third-year human sciences major at Texas Tech, holds up Tri-Delta’s hand sign outside the sorority’s house in Greek Circle Oct. 16, 2024. Fetner uses her experiences battling with cancer as a motivation for philanthropy work.
facility called Tri Delta Place. “Tri Delta Place is amazing. The assistant director of philanthropy and I got to see it and see what we’ve been working towards,” Fetner said. Tri Delta donates to St. Jude for the difference it has made for
families like Fetner’s, she said. “St. Jude is fully funded by donations. The patients don’t have to pay for anything, and that's amazing because it can be difficult,” Fetner said. “It’s important to me because I went through cancer, and I survived. I really want to give
back because I can talk about my story, and I feel that helps a lot of people.” Tri Delta is taking donations at www.stjude.org until July and hosting events for St. Jude to reach its $100,000 goal. SamGarcia_TheDT
YOUR VOICE
FOOTBALL
Navigating Brooks’ breathing technique Election recenters mentality, slows time day ballot By NOAH DAVILA Staff Writer
JACOB LUJAN/The Daily Toreador
Texas Tech super-senior running back Tahj Brooks warms up prior to kickoff of the home opener football game against Abilene Christian at Jones AT&T Stadium Aug. 31, 2024.
By TY KAPLAN SportS editor
Three, two, one is replaced by four, seven, three for super-senior running back Tahj Brooks on game day. What is a count down to most is a moment of meditation for the Manor native. The exercise — breathe in for four seconds, hold for seven and breathe out for three — has assisted Brooks in leading the Big 12 in rushing yards per game and cracking into Tech’s top-three all-time rushers this season. “(It) Made me stay more consistent,” Brooks said. “It made me be a big play threat, and it made me feel that when the ball gets in my hands,
given moment.” Weston Durham, Tech’s assistant athletics director for psychological health and performance, introduced the method to Brooks and the Red Raiders back in February during Wreck ‘Em Recovery. Red Raider athletes participate in the recovery-based workshop once a week on their off day where they spend time with the sports medicine team and the sports psychology team to better their mind and body. Durham, formerly with Oklahoma State University, the University of Oklahoma and Lehigh University in similar roles, said he helped create the 4-7-3 breathing method using a mixture of techniques he learned along the way. “It oxygenates the blood, gets
Durham said. “It also regulates the nervous system, so then we can get more back into making decisions. It gets us out of fight, flight, freeze or fawn mode.” Brooks used the 4-7-3 technique to assist in turning aN uncharacteristic second half into a career-defining moment against the University of Arizona on Oct. 5. After fumbling the ball twice for the first time in his career, Brooks said he utilized what he’d learned to hone in his abilities and charge forward for the game-sealing touchdown. “When I fumbled those two balls, I did it on the sideline, kind of to myself,” Brooks said. “... It kind of reminds me to stay in my place and be for myself a little bit. After that, just get with my team and get to that
Brooks said the breath pattern makes him feel as if he’s transported into NCAA 14’s Road to Glory mode where users could activate “bullet time” to manipulate game speed and allow for better cuts and more explosive plays. “It's crazy, because if you played the old NCAA 14, I feel like that's how it is,” Brooks said. “I feel like everything in my brain slows down, even the game. Everybody could be going fast, but I could be going a different type of slow.” Brooks is averaging 17.5 more rushing yards per game than he did in his previous campaign and is on pace to break the program single-season rushing yard record with two games to spare, according to Tech Athletics.
With just 19 days until Election Day, time is narrowing in for voters to make a decision on the next president of the United States, and the election’s office is encouraging educated decisions from up and down the ballot. Personal social networks such as social media and friend groups account for 67 percent of information reaching young voters, according to the Tuft’s CIRCLE survey. With this in mind, it can be difficult to attain accurate information about each political party’s policies. Therefore, Lubbock’s Election Office advises practicing media literacy in the coming dates before the election. “This election, especially based on where you live, will have lost lasting impacts,” said Election Office administrator Roxzine Stinson. “It’s not just about the up-ballot or the down-ballot. Every vote counts. Last May, we had two elections determined by just a handful of votes. Folks don’t realize how much this matters.” Sample ballots can be found at votelubbock.org, and sample ballots, for both the general and special elections, are shown on page two. Not all choices shown on the sample ballots will be available on individual ballots in November as they are for reference purposes. Federal positions are listed at the top of the ballot, and as one works their way down, they will end on election options for the county level.