Story and video by Matt Nesbitt
Gravity mountain bike racing is a fast-paced and dangerous sport. It is characterized by high speeds and death-defying drops. Racers are well conditioned and have cat-like reflexes, for one wrong move could send them tumbling down a mountain. All this excitement made its way through Southern New Mexico as the Southwest Gravity Series has just concluded its first season.
Story and video by Gabriella Ferrari
Dressed in United States Army Dragoon uniforms from the 1850s, soldiers fired a salute with their muzzle-loading rifles to the 31-star American flag flying high over the Mesilla Plaza, commemorating the anniversary of the Gadsden Purchase on Nov. 16. Read more »
New Mexico State University is a school that, like it or not, thrives on athletics. Much of the student body comes to NMSU for a chance to excel at collegiate athletics. Athletics is a great way to bring in international students and diversify the student body. Merge staff produced a “man on the street” video to get different student’s opinions on Aggie athletics.
– Josele Diaz
Story by Juan Gutierrez
Every fourth Thursday of November, millions of Americans gather at their loved ones’ homes to share a traditional meal of turkey, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie.
But for most men, Thanksgiving is a day to stuff our faces and watch some football.
The National Football League played its first Thanksgiving Day football game in 1934 when Detroit took on the defending World Champion Chicago Bears. Detroit would lose the game by three points, but would begin a tradition of playing football every Thanksgiving Day.
Story and video by Erica Hobbs
Local stores display various Thanksgiving decorations. (Photo collage by Erica Hobbs)
Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and with so many things to be thankful for, who could resist celebrating the holiday? It also happens to be the perfect chance to relax with friends and family, meet new people at various Thanksgiving events taking place in the area and finally enjoy the change of seasons.
Thanksgiving is definitely a different holiday for the Southwest region. Along with holiday wreaths made of brown and orange leaves, one can find chile ristras hanging on doors as well as tamales alongside slices of ham and turkey. Read more »
The Van Patten reservoir collects water above the old resort ruins of Dripping Springs. (Photo by M. Nesbitt)
Story by Matt Nesbitt
One of the many perks of going to school in southern New Mexico is the variety of outdoor recreation opportunities available to students. Southern New Mexico has forests, lakes, desert, rivers and mountains that provide a plethora of outdoor activities. With our mild climate and 300 days of sunshine every year, there is no excuse not get out there and go for a hike.
Probably the closest place to the NMSU campus to get out and see nature would be Dripping Springs Natural Area. From the desert to the rolling hills and eventually into a heavily forested area, Dripping Springs makes you feel like you are hundreds of miles from the hustle and bustle of campus life.
Story by Ruth Smith
The Mexican Canyon Trestle is located just northwest of Cloudcroft, N.M. (Photo courtesy of Peg Crim)
For many years steam locomotives chugged up the mountainside hauling logs and passengers from Alamogordo to Cloudcroft. Winding up the Sacramento Mountains for 26 miles, the trains climbed 4,000 feet and crossed 57 wooden trestles.
The grandest of the trestles was the Mexican Canyon Trestle, which was as long as a football field and 60 feet tall.
Presentation highlights renovation
Peg Crim, from the United States Department of Agriculture, recently gave a presentation entitled “Mexican Canyon Trestle” at the Las Cruces Railroad Museum. Crim’s talk was part of the museum’s Brown Bag Luncheon Series and focused on the history and restoration of the trestle.
Story by Kristina Medley
Brittany Chavez leads a Thursday night Zumba class in the main aerobics studio at the Activity Center. (Photo by Kristina Medley)
The instructor enters the room, the little tassels on her pants swishing as she heads straight for the stereo. Loud music fills the air with popular beats laced with Latin flare as she takes her place in front of the mirrored wall. Each of the more than 45 people in the room follows her lead as she moves to the rhythm of the music.
Attendees lose themselves in the music and fun choreography, forgetting that they are burning up to 900 calories during the hour-long Zumba class. This is just a glimpse of one of more than 25 different types of fitness classes offered by the AggieFit Program at New Mexico State University.
Story by Gabriella Ferrari
New Mexico State University student Cody Johnson traces a pattern on the giant Etch-a-Sketch model using pulleys. (Photo by Gabriella Ferrari)
Did you ever wonder how the Etch-A-Sketch brought your doodles to life? Were you ever curious as to what made your Operation board game buzz? Or maybe you just want to know how to stop the incessant noise from the Jack in the Box?
Children, parents and the young at heart are learning the inner workings of their favorite childhood toys at the Las Cruces Museum of Natural History’s latest exhibit “Toys: The Inside Story.”
Although computers power most modern toys, many classic ones are made up of five simple machines: circuits, pulleys, cams, linkages and gears. Visitors can see these mechanisms inside the toys as well as in larger manipulable models.
Story by Josele Diaz
"Barack Obama" is safe and sound in the Aggie bullpen. (Photo by Josele Diaz)
One week after the mysterious disappearance of “the hitter” from Presley Askew Field, home to Aggie baseball, the lost batter was miraculously returned to his proud home.
The hitter stolen from the Aggie baseball bullpen had been taken from Presley Askew Field just one week ago.
New Mexico State University baseball head coach Rocky Ward said it could have been anybody who had stolen it, but that these things were usually fault of improper securement – or some rowdy Greek Life members.
