· web viewunlv.episode.5_diversity. page 13 of 15. tre: ... 129.1 million voters in the...

Tre: A university of diversity, that's what we are, and it's evident, relevant. You don't have to be far just to see that we shine. We got people who when they look out at night, they see themselves when they see stars, and like those stars, we're so unique. We're so different. You can tell from how we speak, but I dare you to see how we're living. We got the vision. We're on a mission. We're rebels. We rise up against the opposition.

[00:00:30][00:01:00]

Coming at you from UNLV, I am Tre Norman. Diversity is the current that runs through everything we do here at UNLV. In 2015, UNLV was ranked the second-most diverse campus in the nation. Our student body and faculty take pride in our differences, and those differences, those qualities that make us unique fuel the ongoing evolution of our university. Diversity is a constant topic of discussion, especially in this election season. In our first segment, student reporters, Carlos Trujillo and Annabelle Rosa discuss our voting process and identify how the United States is viewed by other countries.

[00:01:30]Carlos: Hey, it's Carlos and I'm here with Annabelle, and today we're going to talk about facts.

Annabelle:

[00:02:00]

With the 2016 presidential election opening this year, we've been wondering about the United States' public image, how people in foreign countries view us, and how other countries vote, if it's different from how we do it, is it similar? We gathered some information from Pew Research Center. They're a nonprofit organization that gathers global data, information regarding politics and economics here in the United States and in other countries.

Carlos:

[00:02:30]

Let's start with how voting is in our country and around the world. In a survey conducted out of 35 democratic countries, the US ranked 31 in voter turnout. As an example on how low our turnout is, in 2012, 129.1 million voters in the election voted out of an eligible 241 million, making the turnout 53.6%.

Annabelle:

[00:03:00]

That number is pretty low when you compare us to other countries. For example, Belgium actually have the highest turnout in their most recent election with 87.2%. Turkey and Sweden were not too far behind. Turkey had 84.3%, and Sweden had 82.6%, but it's also important to keep in mind that both Belgium and Turkey have compulsory voting laws. What that basically means is they have laws that mandate eligible citizens to vote. If they don't vote, they could face punishment such as paying fines or having to do community service. As far as I know, that doesn't include jail time, but there could be some countries that do. I'm not sure.

Carlos: Just imagine if in the US they had that type of law how different our voter turnout would be.

Annabelle: Do you think that would be a good think though or a bad thing?

Carlos:[00:03:30]

I feel like the more people that got to vote in that could change the turnout, especially since we live in a 2-party system. We have a 2-party system, if you have more people

vote in, they might go and vote for the other parties, which could change the way our system and how our elections run.

Annabelle: I'm torn on it because I feel like it's definitely important to vote, but I also feel like if it was mandatory that it's cutting into ... You have the right to vote, but you also have the right to not vote.

Carlos: To not vote.

Annabelle: You know what I mean?

Carlos: Yeah.

Annabelle: It's almost like our First Amendment right to not vote.

Carlos: You don't want to be mandated to do something, right?

Annabelle: Exactly.

[00:04:00]Carlos: I feel like, I guess you're right, saying just like if you have the right to vote, then you

have the right to vote, but you can't be forced, especially in this country, people would riot if we were forced to vote.

Annabelle: Yeah, and if you're forced to vote, think about all the people who are going to vote just because they have to not really knowing anything about the candidates or about politics, about policies, and who are just going to vote for whoever. You know what I mean? Imagine what that could do to the country too.

Carlos: Exactly, so there's always 2 sides to this argument.

Annabelle: Yeah. I could see it both ways, but I feel like it shouldn't be mandatory.

[00:04:30]Carlos: We talked about how voting is different around the world and in the US, so let's talk

about how the world views the US as a nation. Annabelle, do you want to talk about the ones that view us positively?

Annabelle:

[00:05:00]

Sure, so across the nations in this study, most of them actually had a favorable opinion of us. Actually, 69% had a positive opinion of us. Only 24% said that they had a negative perspective. ⅔ of Canadians had a positive opinion of the country, and those numbers are similar with most of our other NATO allies, including the UK, Italy, Spain, France, and Poland.

Carlos: On the other hand, the countries that have a negative view on the US, we have Germany, which has 45% have a negative perspective of us while 50% have a positive one. While in the Ukraine, 69% have a positive opinion of the US. Russia has a 15%

UNLV.Episode.5_Diversity of 15

[00:05:30]positive view, which is down from 51% 2 years ago before the violence. Then finally, roughly 8 in 10 Israelis see the US in a positive light, although there is a wide gap between Israeli Jew which are 87% favorable and Arabs who are 48% favorable of the US.

Annabelle: How do you feel about these numbers?

Carlos: I feel like I can see how the world views us in a negative perspective. There's issues around the world where the US has wronged many nations.

Annabelle: I don't know, but I feel like the US is notorious for butting in to everybody's issues.

[00:06:00]Carlos: There's going to be opinions from around the world and we just have to accept that.

Annabelle: Yeah, because I feel like the US tries to be everybody's big brother and fix things or step in even when they're not asked to. Imagine somebody kept butting in to your business. You're going to not like them basically.

Carlos:

[00:06:30]

Then we see the countries that do have a positive view of us, and we've been allies for many decades, and then the ones that don't have a positive view of us, it's because we have either taken away their nukes or sent soldiers on their land, which I won't put an opinion on that.

Annabelle: Yes, so before that topic gets too intense, let's just move on to our next topic if you're ready.

Carlos: Yeah, I'm good.

Annabelle: Okay, so now we're going to talk about how foreign countries view our leaders and our possible leaders. We'll talk about President Obama and Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Carlos:[00:07:00]

Let's start with our current President Barack Obama. Pew asked global survey-takers how confident they were in him to do the right thing regarding world affairs. 77% said they were confident, while 22% said they weren't confident in him.

Annabelle: Yeah, so overall, it looks like Barrack Obama has pretty good ratings, but if you look at the numbers in Israel specifically you'll see a drastic drop. Last year, he was at 71% confidence, and this year, he's only at 49%. The numbers definitely went down due to current events.

Carlos:[00:07:30]

Yeah. There was a big dip you can see, and then in Russia only 11% expressed confidence in him, which can also be due to the current situation and their leader Putin.

Annabelle: As far as our potential world leaders, so currently Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton


[00:08:00]

are in the running to become president. Pew Research Center also asked different countries how they felt about these 2 candidates, and they asked the same question, how much confidence do you have in blank to do the right thing regarding world affairs? For Hillary Clinton, overall, 59% of the people surveyed were confident in her, and for Donald Trump, it's a huge difference. He only had 9% confidence with 85% of the people saying that they weren't confident in him.

Carlos: I wonder what their preference in Russia is towards Donald compared to Hillary, as you can see Obama had an 11% confidence. I would think maybe Trump too. Maybe next year they could do a survey to see how people in Russia felt towards ...

Annabelle: Towards Trump?

Carlos: Yeah.

Annabelle: That's interesting. I didn't even think about that.

[00:08:30]Carlos: I feel like at this point, it's also important to know how the world views our current

candidates. I feel like more people are favorable towards Hillary, and then more people are displeased with Donald Trump. Our allies would probably be against Donald Trump for maybe a few things he has said especially about immigration. It makes sense that people from around the world who could possibly want to move to the US would feel like they have less confidence in his role as a leader than Hillary Clinton.

[00:09:00]Annabelle: Overall, most nations don't have much confidence in Donald Trump as president of

the United States. That makes me wonder if he were to be elected as president this year, how would that change how countries perceive us as a nation.

Carlos: Especially since right now 24% of the nations that were in this survey already view us as unfavorable.

Annabelle: Would that number go up? Which I'm assuming it would.

Carlos:[00:09:30]

Yeah, because with the president that is so unfavorable, people tend to look at the government and perceive the nation based on what the government does. If we were to elect Donald Trump as the next president of the United States, I feel like that would have a big impact on how the whole world views us a nation just based on who is running us basically, which is why we should vote.

Annabelle:

[00:10:00]

Even though it's not required to vote here in the United States, I think it's important to exercise that right that you do have. Not every country gets to choose their leaders, and we're fortunate enough that we do have that choice. I think it's important to educate yourself on the issues and what these politicians have to offer or say that they have to offer, what they're willing to do for us and what they're plans are,


because it affects us not only in this country but if affects everyone else's view on us and what we're capable of.

Carlos:

[00:10:30]

Exactly. It's always important to know information like this, about how the world views us, how the world views our current leaders and our potential future leaders. It gives us a better understanding of where we are in the world and how we can go from it.

Tre:

[00:11:00]

There was a lot of great information included in that last segment. You all can fact check on that one. Great job Annabelle and Carlos. To keep in line with our topic of the day, diversity, our next segment really showcases the diverse population on our campus. Student journalist Mackenzie Mills sat down for an interview with UNLV student and Olympic gold medalist Connor Fields to discuss his experience at the Rio Olympics and life on campus at UNLV.

Mackenzie: Good evening everybody, it's Mackenzie Mills and I am here with Olympic gold medalist Connor Fields. Thank you for being with us.

Connor: Yeah, no problem at all, thanks for having me.

Mackenzie: I'm sure the past few months have been like a whirlwind for you. How has Las Vegas embraced you since your return from Rio?

Connor:[00:11:30]

[00:12:00]

It's been crazy, but it's been a lot of fun. Las Vegas isn't necessarily, at least right now it's not known as a huge sporting town, but we did just get a hockey team, and hopefully the football team. For Las Vegas to have, I believe, 3 athletes at the Olympics and 2 of us won gold medals, the city did such an amazing job embracing us. I got things like the key to the Strip, the key to Henderson. There has been, I think, 2 or 3 Connor Fields Days. There's Henderson, Vegas, and Clark County. It's been really cool, and it's been a lot of fun. It's one enjoyable ride, that's for sure.

Mackenzie: Yeah, and you had a really big welcome party at the airport, I saw.

Connor:

[00:12:30]

I did, yeah, it was pretty cool. It was my family and some of my close friends, and then a lot of the young BMXers. A lot of you don't know this, but Las Vegas actually has a huge BMX community. There's hundreds of young BMXers and their families. They're all with signs, and news was there and everything to welcome me home. I was so tired, right? I mean, I just flew back from Brazil which is a 10-hour flight to Houston, and then a 3-hour flight from Houston here. I'm a little bit exhausted, both from competing and then the media and then maybe a party or 2 in there, and all I wanted to do was just go home, but then there's all these people there. I signed autographs for an hour and everything, but I have some cool photos from that, and that would be a great memory.

Mackenzie: How did you celebrate your big win?

Connor: How did I celebrate my big win? Immediately crossing the finish line, I celebrated for a


[00:13:00]

[00:13:30]

quick couple minutes with a few people, but they take you directly to a press conference. I had to do a 2-hour press conference, and then from there you go to anti-doping to do your anti-doping. Then from there, they whisk you away to NBC's media headquarters. I did 3 or 4 hours of media. I didn't actually finish my responsibility, so we finished racing about 2pm, and I was busy until about 10. From there, we went to the USA retreat house that they had setup there, and I was able to see my dad, my coaches and stuff. We had to celebrate a little bit there, but the big celebrations happened when I got home. For the first 2 weeks, it was almost every night. Sometimes it was just me and a few friends. Then another time we had a big table setup for us at JEWEL Nightclub. They took care of everything. It was pretty fun. It's been a lot of celebrating. I think I'm all celebrated out.

Mackenzie: Okay.

Connor: I think I'm ready for break.

Mackenzie: Okay. Well, last month you had the opportunity to go to the White House with Team USA. Tell us a little bit about that.

[00:14:00]Connor: Yeah, that was really cool. I was in the Olympics in 2012 as well, and we all had the

same opportunity that time, but I chose to go to a race. We had a race the same weekend, and I chose to go to the race. I kind of always regretted that. I mean, how many opportunities in your life do you have to go to the White House and shake hands with the president? This time around, there was a race the same weekend, and I said, "Forget the race. I'm going to the White House." That was really cool, just being in the White House, first of all.

Mackenzie: Yeah.

Connor:[00:14:30]

[00:15:00]

Looking around and thinking like, "I'm in the White House right now." It's pretty cool. Then the way it works was they brought you in team by team, so the gymnasts went in together. The swimmers went in together. I went with the other cyclist, and it was Obama, the First Lady, and Joe Biden. I get to shake hands with all 3 of them. Obama was like, "Oh, congratulations, great job. We're proud of you." The First Lady said something similar, and then I had a pretty interaction with Joe Biden. He looked at my medal and said, "Oh, the medal looks good on you. You look good." I said, "Oh, thanks, you don't look so bad yourself Vice Pres," and he laughed. It's really cool. I think craziest moment was just turning around the corner and seeing the president 10 feet in front of you. That's like a whoa kind of moment, like, "Oh, leader of the free world. There he is right there."

Mackenzie: Yeah, that's pretty awesome.

Connor: Barry, what's up Barry?

Mackenzie: Well, you guys seem to have a close relationship now, huh? Barry.


Connor:

[00:15:30]

Yeah, I called him Barry O. No, I'm just kidding. I wouldn't do that, but there was actually one crazy thing. You weren't allowed to bring your camera or your phone in there, and you weren't allowed to put your hands in your pockets. You're told to leave your hands out of your pockets and don't make any fast movements.

Mackenzie: Oh.

Connor: I was kind of bummed because I really wanted a photo. I was going to try to take a selfie but have him take the selfie. I thought that would've been kind of funny, like this guy wanted to take a picture with me, like that kind of thing, but you weren't actually allowed to take any photos, but it's pretty cool.

Mackenzie: Maybe next time.

Connor: Yeah, hopefully.

Mackenzie: You were saying that you went to Olympics in London 2012. You were 19 years old. How important was it for you to win gold at that time?

[00:16:00]Connor:

[00:16:30]

I mean, in London, everything happened really fast, going from an amateur and turning pro and becoming good enough to compete in the Olympics was all in the process of 2 years. It all happened so fast. At the time, I didn't have as much balance in my life. BMX was kind of everything. I wanted to win so bad, and it was so devastating when I didn't win. It took a long time to get over it, but at the end of the day, I think it was a good lesson learning that you can't put all your eggs into 1 basket because sometimes that basket is going to drop. You need other stuff going on. When I returned from London, that's actually when I enrolled at school, because I realized, yeah, it might work out and things might be great, but at the same time, it might not work out. I needed to make sure I had stuff going on in my life outside of just the BMX.

[00:17:00]I mean, at the end of the day, it's the Olympic Games. Anybody who is there has sacrificed their entire life to be in this position, to have this opportunity. They are the best of the best from around the world. I mean, it's a big deal for everybody there. Nobody is going there without an expectation to compete at their best and try to bring home a medal. Very few athletes leave there happy because very few athletes come home with a medal.

[00:17:30]Mackenzie: Yeah, so you were still dealing with that loss a little bit after, right?

Connor: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Mackenzie: A couple of years, maybe. Up until-


Connor: Yeah, it was hard, because I was really close. I was the 1 seed in the final.

Mackenzie: Yeah.

Connor:

[00:18:00]

When you're expected to win and even in my mind I thought I was going to win but then it doesn't work out that way, it's a tough pill to swallow. It's not like with the normal races there's always another one coming up right around the corner. I mean, it was a 4-year wait to have another chance at it. Being that it's 1 race every 4 years, you just don't know if you're ever going to get that opportunity again.

Mackenzie: Right, and then you had an injury.

Connor:

[00:18:30]

Yeah, so this March, I was training for one of the World Cup rounds, which actually was one of the qualifiers for the Olympics, and I broke my wrist really bad. It was 4 months and 5 days or something before the Olympics. It was really, really close, and it was one of those things where I wasn't sure if I was even going to get a chance to go back with the injury. First of all, I had to get healthy, but then second of all, I had to hope that the team, the US national team still thought I was one of the 3 best chances at a medal. There was a lot of days where I didn't know if I was going to go to the Olympics. It's kind of crazy story how I barely made the team and then went on to win the gold.

Mackenzie: You were a discretionary pick, right?

Connor:

[00:19:00]

I was. I was the discretionary pick which meant I was the third guy and the final guy names to the team. Basically, they went off of the results over the last 4 years. They looked at myself and my results versus the other members who were on the team, and they said, "All right, so even though he's injured, we still believe that if healthy, he gives us the best chance at a medal rather than someone who might've been healthy at the time but they may not have given the US the best chance at a medal at that event.

Mackenzie: Okay, yeah, so it seems like you had a lot going on, still dealing with your loss in London, and then the injury with your wrist. What did you tell yourself you would do differently the second time around?

[00:19:30]Connor:

[00:20:00]

I think just the approach was a lot different because there was a lot of times where I didn't know if I was even going to get a chance. I was just excited that I had the opportunity, and I just try to take advantage of the opportunity. I realized maybe I wasn't going to be coming in there with the best form, maybe I was still going to be dealing with the pain in the wrist or the repercussions from not riding for a few months and all that. I just looked at it as I was just happy to have the chance. My whole mentality was just like, just put me in the gate. Give me a chance to ride and let me have a crack at it.

I think that was a much healthier attitude going in, as opposed to London it was win or


[00:20:30]

bust and also hell-bent in winning that I wasn't enjoying the opportunity or focusing on each step that gets you to winning. I was skipping A, B, and C and going straight to Z which is the win, whereas this time I just was happy to be there and I just focused on my goal for the weekend, and I wrote this down. I wanted to leave that arena on August 19th, if it was gold, bronze, or out in the qualifiers, I wanted to be able to look myself in the mirror and say I did my best and I did everything I could to be at my best and I have no regrets.

Mackenzie: Yeah.

Connor: With that being said, I have always believed in myself and I have always believed that if I do that, if I put my 100% on the table, I am good enough to have a chance to win any race I'm in.

[00:21:00]Mackenzie: Yeah.

Connor: Had I finished second or fourth or whatever, I would've been happy with my efforts because I did my best. It just so happened that on that day, with those circumstances, my best was enough to win.

Mackenzie: Yeah, so essentially, you treated it almost like another game. You gave it your all. You didn't go into it saying, "Okay, I have to win gold," like last time.

Connor: Yeah, exactly.

Mackenzie: Okay.

Connor:[00:21:30]

At the end of the day, it is just another race, and I've done so many of them. It's still 8 guys in the starting line, and the first guy to cross the finish line wins. Just because it means something different than all the other ones, people treat it differently, and they race differently. Every Olympics, I mean, it's the craziest racing that we ever see because people are treating it differently. I really just made an effort just reminding myself. Even on the day between the races I was like, "Okay, it's just another race. It's just piles of dirt and kids on bike, so it's just another race."

[00:22:00]Mackenzie: Right, and you're almost like a pioneer in Olympic BMX cycling because there wasn't

been very many people before you to do so, correct?

Connor: Yeah, so London was the second Olympics, so Beijing '08 was the first time.

Mackenzie: Okay.

Connor: I was in the second Olympics, and I'm one of the only 10 or 15 of us that have been in 2 different Olympics.


Mackenzie: Yeah, so you're somebody to look up to for a lot of kids. Where do you see the future of BMX cycling in the Olympics?

[00:22:30]Connor:

[00:23:00]

I think it's great. I mean, obviously in the US it's hard. I think we won 121 medals and 46 of them were gold. Unless you're like Phelps or Biles or something and you win 5, it's hard to get any real mainstream notice, but for example, the girl who won gold in both London and Rio, she's from Columbia. In London, she was their first every gold medalist from that country, and then she went back to back in Rio. She there is the equivalent to a LeBron James in the US. I think she's got millions of Twitter followers, because she has to go everywhere with a private security. The girl who got bronze this time, she's from Venezuela. Venezuela only got 3 medals in the Olympics, so she is a celebrity in Venezuela.

Mackenzie: Wow.

Connor: Around the world, it's huge. It's really growing. It gets great ratings every Olympics, because, I might be bias, but I think it's the most exciting sport of the Olympics to watch.

Mackenzie: It is.

Connor: It's so much fun to watch.

Mackenzie: It is.

[00:23:30]Connor:

[00:24:00]

It's just hard in the US because we have so much to compete with between NFL, NBA, NHL, baseball, NASCAR, and then you get the guys like Phelps and Allyson Felix. That's who I'm up against. I only had the opportunity to win 1 gold, and our sport has to be one of the hardest ones to win because it's such a dice roll every time. America loves a winner, so America wants to see Simone Biles with 5 gold medals around her neck and they're like, "What happened? What happened Connor, you only won 1?" It's like, "Well, I get 1 chance to win 1," but I think it's growing, especially here in Vegas it's huge. I mean, when I started ridding when I was a kid, there was only 2 tracks in the Vegas valley and now there's 4. There's hundreds of kids and more and more people getting into it every day. I mean, I think the future is bright. Being put in the Olympics, it's given us a lot of credibility.

Mackenzie: Yeah. Were you able to meet Phelps or any of those big winners?

[00:24:30]Connor: Yeah, I met lots of them both in London and some more in Rio. I mean, I had a

conversation with Usain Bolt in London which is pretty cool. I rode and elevator with Phelps and Lochte and the swimmers, and I had a conversation and chatted a bit with Rickie Fowler the golfer this time around. I mean, at the end of the day, we're all on the same team. Instantly, there's a bit of mutual respect there, which is pretty cool. I


[00:25:00]mean, even at the games, some of those big name athletes are a bit of celebrity, because people from around the world want to get a picture with LeBron or whomever it may be. That's, for me, the coolest thing is meeting people from all over the world. You're just sitting in the cafeteria and watching all the people from all over the world, just people watching. I think it has to be the best place in the world to do people-watching.

Mackenzie: Yeah, I'm sure. Well, I'm sure that BMX cycling is going to be huge. You also go to UNLV. Do people recognize you around campus?

Connor: I've had a couple of people.

[00:25:30]Mackenzie: Do people ever ask you to see your gold medal?

Connor: I've had a couple people that recognize me. The one thing with my sport is we're wearing a helmet.

Mackenzie: Okay.

Connor:

[00:26:00]

It's not like if we're track and field where everybody sees your face the whole time you compete, so a lot of people might not ... They might know who I was, but they might not recognize me exactly, which I'm okay with. I know when I go to BMX races I have a bit of like a celebrity and that people will always want to see me and take a picture with me. That would get old real quick. I totally understand why celebrity lose it having to do that. They can't even go to Starbucks without having people wanting to take a photo with them, but one funny such story.

[00:26:30]

I'm in accounting 201, and it's an auditorium class and it's got 150 kids in there. It was on syllabus day, and the professor was going over the format of the class and she was explaining how the final exam is worth, I think it's like 50%, 60% of your grade. She made an analogy, and she goes, "Your final exam, this is your Olympics," to the class is what she's saying, she goes, "This is your Olympics. This is what you have to focus on the whole semester." Then she posed the question to the class, she goes, "I mean, think about it. You guys just finished watching the Rio Olympics, do you think those athletes showed up prepared?" My buddy is in that classroom and so I nudged him, and I was like, "Yeah, they were probably prepared."

[00:27:00]The teacher looked at me and she saw it was me who said it. She had recognized me. I didn't know she'd recognize me. I just thought I've made a funny joke for my buddy, but she had recognized me and she looks at me and she goes, "Okay, well now I'm going to embarrass you." She said in front of the whole class, she goes, "Do you guys know who is in this class right now?" I go, "Oh, here we go." She goes, "There's an Olympic gold medalist in this class right now and he's right there," and then a hundred sets of eyes instantly look at me. I'm just like, "Hey guys. Hey everybody." I forget exactly what she said, but I just said something like, "As long as it helps my grade, I'm all right."


Mackenzie: Well, did it?

[00:27:30]Connor: She said, "Nope, I'm going to grade you even harder." I was, "Oh man."

Mackenzie: What was your grade at the end?

Connor: I'm still in that class.

Mackenzie: Oh okay.

Connor: I'm taking it this semester.

Mackenzie: I have a feeling you'll get an A.

Connor: I hope so. I hope so.

Mackenzie: Well, we have a few Twitter questions for you. I asked your fans to tweet Ask Connor, and shannon_irvinee wants to know who was the coolest person you met at the Olympics?

Connor:[00:28:00]

[00:28:30]

I would say Usain Bolt was really cool. I met him in London though. I didn't meet him in Rio, but the conversation I had with Usain Bolt, it was really cool. The way I look at it is when you see someone like that you have 2 options, you can run up and ask for a photo or you can try to have a conversation, like an interaction with them. We were going through security to get back in the village. I asked him, because he kept doing this thing with his fingers when the camera would come up to him in London and I asked him what it was. He explained to me it's the symbol for a bunny rabbit and I want to be fast like a bunny. I had this whole conversation with him, which was in my opinion a lot cooler than if I was just like, "Hey, let me get a photo," because I was able to actually look him in the eye. He looked me in the eye. We had a conversation which is pretty cool.

Mackenzie: You're basically friends with him now.

Connor: Yeah, basically we're homies.

Mackenzie: Okay, the next question I have is a little bit different from @Brittany_Harden, she wants to know would you ever date a fan?

Connor: Oh, well, I have a girlfriend Brittany.

Mackenzie: Oh, sorry Brittany.

[00:29:00]Connor: I'm sorry, but I wouldn't rule ... I mean, if you're cool and I like you, I wouldn't say no


to dating someone just because they're a fan.

Mackenzie: Okay, sorry Brittany, he's off limits. Okay, well thank you so much for being with us Connor. We're very excited to see where your future leads you.

Connor: All right, thanks for having me.

Tre:

[00:29:30]

We all are so proud of Connor for winning the gold medal as well as his ongoing commitment to his studies here at UNLV. I couldn't imagine going for gold at the Olympics and balancing time as a student. That's a big commitment right there, but anyway, our next segment is a fun one, and throughout the history of our state, the word Nevada or Nevada, the correct pronunciation has always been the point of contention, so we want to clear the air right now. Student journalist Genevieve Grippo is putting all of the debates to a rest today, so check out this next segment.

[00:30:00]Genevieve: N-E-V-E-D-A, one word ...

Female: Nevada.

Male: Nevada.

Female: Nevada.

Genevieve: Endless ways to say it.

Female: Nevada. Nevada. Nevada. Nevada.

Genevieve:

[00:30:30]

Okay, so if you're a local, you know that it's pronounced just how I'm saying it, Nevada, but the pronunciation of the Silver State's name has always been a point of contention. Even on the campaign trail, Donald Trump made headlines for improperly calling it Nevada, but UNLV is unlike almost any other university. It's the second-most diverse in the country according to US News and World Report and it's centered in the heart of one of the most eclectic cities in the world, Las Vegas. The way people hear say Nevada just really depends on where they're from.

We traveled to the Las Vegas Strip, our local melting pot of diversity to answer 1 question, how do you say Nevada? The journey was rocky to start.

[00:31:00] Nobody wants to talk to us. Can I ask you a quick question ... Okay.

As time went on, people didn't seem so afraid when I ran up to them with a microphone.

Just 1 question, can I ask you to read this please?

Female: Nevada.


Genevieve: We were off. People from all over the country had their own ways of saying it.

Female: Nevada.

Male: Nevada.

Female: Nevada.

Male: Nevada.

Male: Nevada.

Female: Nevada.

Male: Nevada.

Male: Nevada.

Female: Nevada.

Genevieve: Internationally, the pronunciations differed even more.

Male: Nevada.

Female: Nevada.

Male: Nevada.

[00:31:30]Male: Nevada.

Female: Nevada.

Female: Nevada.

Female: Nevada.

Female: Nevada.

Male: Nevada.

Genevieve: Even here at home, some people add their own twist to the state's name.

Male: A honk a horn Nevada baby.

Genevieve: Wonderful thank you.


That's how you say Nevada.

[00:32:00]Tre:

[00:32:30]

Once again, I'm Tre Norman coming at you from UNLV. I want to give you a big thank you for listening to today's episode. We're having a lot creating these episodes for you. I'm especially having a lot of fun myself. If you like what you're hearing, let us know by subscribing on iTunes, Google Play, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast because you can find us there too. Also, be sure to leave a rating and review because we want to know what you think. If you want to learn more about our host, please check out UNLV.edu/podcast. Once again, thank you for checking out this week's installment of UNLV, different, daring, diverse.


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