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Thursday, S eptember 21, 2017 | Vo l u m e 1 2 2 | I s s u e 1 1
The sights, smells and experiences of the fair By Kevin Maestas @chunkfu_kevin
When the New Mexico State Fair blows into town each year, I begin to yearn for the smell of smoked turkey legs while waiting to ride roller coasters and ferris wheels in the midway. After the metallic machinery whips and whirls the summer blues away, emerges the no-brainer to bury my face into powdered sugar with a side of funnel cake. The next logical step would be to let off some steam by chucking softballs at beer bottles for a quick thrill that may result in the adoption of a cheap stuffed animal. Since 1938, Expo New Mexico has housed the yearly celebration of community artisanship, agriculture, cultural traditions and churros. Not quite sure if churros have been among the state fair’s oldest traditions, but for this 20-something-year-old mesa dweller, the annual pilgrimage to southeast Albuquerque must be accompanied by aguas frescas, fair rides and fried pastries. The yearly passage through
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State Fair page 2
Kevin Maestas / Daily Lobo / @ChunkFu_Kevin
The Pharoah’s Fury eclipses the trunk of the chair swing in the midway at the New Mexico State Fair on Sept. 17, 2017.
Professional cowboys come to State Fair By Sherri Barth @SherriJBarth23 Professional rodeo bareback rider Tim O’Connell wants to be the best ever. “I think I’m an adrenaline junkie,” O’Connell said on why he participates in rodeo competitions. “Every time I get on, it’s for a world title, every horse that I get on is another opportunity to get another gold buckle. My goal in rodeo is to be a six-time world champion.” O’Connell is the defending Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association World Bareback Riding Champion 2017. A native Iowan, 25-year-old O’Connell’s PRCA career earnings are a reported $771,272, according to the PRCA website. O’Connell said he’s been bareback riding since he was 18, and riding professionally since 2013. He said his whole family is involved in rodeo. O’Connell placed 2nd in Bareback Riding at the 2017 New Mexico State Fair Rodeo with earnings of $3,513. The New Mexico State Fair Rodeo isn’t in the top 20 of rodeo prize earnings in the country, said Justin Shaw, PRCA media director. However, it is considered one of the most valuable, being one of the last three top rodeo money makers before the Sept. 30 deadline. Tracy Renck, PRCA media coordinator, said the stakes are high, as each cowboy competing seeks to be the top 15 in their respective rodeo event — All-around, Bareback, Steer Wrestling, Team Roping, Saddle Bronc Riding, TieDown Roping, Steer Roping and Bull Riding — all with the hope to make it to the $10 million Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, Nevada
UNM joins sexual assault campaign By Brendon Gray @notgraybrendon
Courtesy Photo/PRCA photo by Greg Westfall
each December. Renck said these crucial rodeos include Puyallup, Washington, Albuquerque and Pendleton, Oregon. Though O’Connell is the defending Bareback Riding World Champion in 2016, he said it does not automatically put him in competition at the WNFR this year. O’Connell said a PRCA competitor must prove himself all over again when the new year starts in order to qualify for this coveted event. Scottie Knapp, a 26-year-old local PRCA bull rider competitor, was sixth in the world for bull riding in 2016. Knapp said he has
been riding bulls since he was 10 years old, and professionally after age 18. However, Knapp fell to 28th place, according to Renck, in 2017. Knapp said the drop in the rankings was due to the injuries he incurred this past year, which took him out of the race to qualify for the WNFR. Knapp said he was thrown from a bull and was stepped on, kicked, scalped on the back of his head, and dislocated a shoulder, needing 21 staples and stitches on hand and forehead. There is not much protection between the rider, the bull and
the ground in terms of safety, according to Knapp, who said he just wears a helmet and mask. When asked if he had a close call with his life while bull riding, Knapp said, “Not necessarily — driving is more dangerous than bull riding.” Knapp’s total career earnings to this date are $318,293, according to the PRCA website. When asked who his chief competitors were, Knapp said, “The only competition is the bull.” So, how does a cowboy or cowgirl get to participate as a PRCA
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Rodeo page 10
On Tuesday, the Associated Students of UNM launched the first event in their effort to prevent sexual assault on campus. ASUNM partnered with the national It’s On Us campaign, started by the Obama administration in 2014, and facilitated 211 students in taking the national pledge against sexual assault. “This initiative is going to change lives for students at UNM as it has for hundreds of thousands of students across the nation who have taken this pledge,” Noah Brooks, ASUNM president, said. The pledge was created through the national campaign and has been taken by over 300,000 people, according to its website. “Saying things out loud makes them happen,” the pledge reads. “Join the movement by taking the pledge. Commit to helping create a culture of consent, bystander intervention and survivor support.” ASUNM representatives, including senators and staff members, distributed information about the event to students on their way to class. Several campus resource centers also attended the event, including
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ASUNM page 3