INVITING NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL FANS TO VOICE THEIR DISPLEASURE WITH THEIR UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO NEIGHBORS BY ATTENDING "AGGIE DAY FOR THE LOBOS" AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO-UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO FOOTBALL GAME.

WHEREAS, New Mexico state university and the university of Texas at El Paso have enjoyed a long and treasured rivalry in college football that spans nearly a century; and

WHEREAS, New Mexico state university and the university of Texas at El Paso have traditionally engaged in their gridiron rivalry on a home-and-away basis, playing the game alternately in El Paso and Las Cruces; and

WHEREAS, the two schools had a contract to play the game at Aggie memorial stadium in Las Cruces in September 2001 and again in 2002; and

WHEREAS, university of Texas at El Paso officials insisted that the game be played instead in El Paso and arbitrarily decided to cancel the contract for monetary purposes; and

WHEREAS, while playing the game in Las Cruces is an important revenue producer for the New Mexico state university athletic program, the Aggies' primary reasons for wanting to do so were for sportsmanship and fair play; and

WHEREAS, despite the rivalry within the great state of New Mexico between university of New Mexico athletic fans and New Mexico state university athletic fans, they are all, first and foremost, New Mexicans;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that all New Mexico state university football fans be invited to Albuquerque on September 1, 2001 to cheer on the university of New Mexico Lobos, or at least root against the university of Texas at El Paso Miners if cheering for the Lobos is simply asking too much, in the "UNM versus UTEP" football game; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the university of New Mexico athletic department be urged to make New Mexico state university football fans welcome at the game by declaring September 1, 2001 to be "Aggie Day for the Lobos"; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the athletic departments at the university of New Mexico, New Mexico state university and the university of Texas at El Paso, the mayor of El Paso, the El Paso chamber of commerce and the El Paso convention and visitors bureau.