ASUNM President Kevin Stevenson's first day of the semester started off like any other first day of class.
He woke up around 6:30 a.m. and was on campus before 8:00 a.m. But he didn't head off to his 8:00 a.m. math class. Instead, he hit the road for the opening of the New Mexico Legislature.
He and ASUNM's lobbying committee chair, John De Young, arrived in Santa Fe a little after 9:00 a.m. and headed for the Roundhouse.
"It was really hectic," Stevenson said. "There were tons of people there."
He and De Young walked around, familiarizing themselves with the building. They found the help desk and the welcome desk, places Stevenson said he was sure they would utilize throughout the session.
A few days earlier, he met with UNM lobbyist Carlos Romero and David Harris, UNM vice president for business and finance, to get an idea of what to expect from the Legislature's first day.
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"I was just hoping to talk to a couple of different legislators and hear the governor speak," he said.
Stevenson and De Young went up the House gallery early to find a seat. The session was due to start at noon.
"It was completely packed," Stevenson said. "People were there everywhere. We sat down around 11, but we barely got (a seat)."
Gov. Bill Richardson's State of the State address didn't contain any surprises, Stevenson said.
"A lot of it wasn't new," he said. "It was pretty much the same things we heard him talk about all last fall."
While Stevenson said it's difficult to tell this early what the Legislature's big priorities will be, he expects higher education issues will be on the table.
Richardson has made a big push for his higher education platform, Stevenson said.
"But at the same time, you can't fight with water," he said. "That stuff has to come first."
In addition, Richardson has named many issues as his top priorities, so it's hard to say what will be big topics this year, Stevenson said.
From there, Stevenson and De Young headed to a meeting of the Associated Students of New Mexico, an association of student governments from universities in the state.
He wanted to attend to make sure UNM had a voice in ASNM's lobbying platform.
"If I hadn't gone, half the students in the state wouldn't have had input into what they were lobbying for," Stevenson said.
They left Santa Fe around 5:00 p.m. It took them a little over an hour to get home.
Then Stevenson was back in his office - but he said the long day wasn't unusual. He's usually in his office until late in the evening, he said.
All his classes are on Tuesdays and Thursdays. With the first day of the session is out of the way, Stevenson said he plans to go up to Santa Fe every Wednesday.
"Hopefully, this is the only day of class I'll miss," he said.
