The year is 1972. The HP-35, the world’s first scientific pocket calculator, is introduced at a cost of $395. Atari kicks off the video game revolution with the game “Pong.” And Bob Barker makes his first appearance as host of “The Price is Right.”

That same year, a man named Pete V. Domenici, the son of Italian immigrants and a former Albuquerque city commissioner and commission chair, is elected as a U.S. senator from New Mexico.

A lot has changed since 1972. Calculators just as powerful as the HP-35 now cost less than $10. Today, video games have graphics far more advanced than “Pong,” and thanks to the Internet, people in New Mexico, Kansas and Paris can all play each other in the same game. Even Bob Barker has retired, calling down his last contestant and giving away his final new car in 2007.

Yes, a lot can happen in 36 years, but one thing that didn’t change in that time was New Mexico’s representation in the Senate by Pete V. Domenici. He entered politics after being challenged by friends to fix some of the problems about which he was always complaining. Political observers say he kept that determination to solve problems, serving the people of New Mexico for six terms.

“Sen. Domenici has had a hand in shaping so many things on the national level, from nuclear nonproliferation to the federal budget to behavioral health. His contributions are too numerous to be counted,” says Garrey Carruthers, NMSU vice president for economic development. “His efforts supporting economic development around the state and through programs at New Mexico State University show Sen. Domenici is one of New Mexico and NMSU’s greatest friends.”

Earlier this year, NMSU created the Pete V. Domenici Legacy, a multifaceted effort to celebrate the senator’s historic tenure in the U.S. Senate and to preserve his contributions for future generations.

The project has four primary elements – digitizing, preserving and processing the Senator Pete V. Domenici Archive; constructing the Pete V. Domenici Building; creating the Pete V. Domenici Institute; and orchestrating the Domenici Public Policy Conference.

“Our goal is to establish a universitywide project to honor Sen. Domenici’s extensive work and his contributions to both New Mexico and to the country,” Carruthers says. “We are certain this effort will make both the senator and the people he served proud.”

The NMSU Library is responsible for the Domenici Archives. Nearly 2,000 boxes filled with documents and memorabilia from the senator’s offices chronicling his legacy arrived in late 2007 and are now housed in a controlled environment at Branson Library. In all, the initial load of documents weighed about 30 tons. It took three tractor-trailers two and a half days to load, transfer and unload the shipment.

“These historical materials will be a unique research resource for the people of New Mexico and beyond,” says Elizabeth Titus, NMSU dean of libraries. “We at NMSU are especially proud that many NMSU alumni have held positions in Sen. Domenici’s office and have gone on to have very successful careers.”

Additional shipments of printed materials and electronic documents as well as memorabilia, including awards and photos, are expected to arrive at NMSU later this year.

“It is interesting that the Domenici Archive contains much audiovisual material in addition to the papers and correspondence. Motion picture films and videos in varying formats that date back to the 1970s document the activities of Sen. Domenici and other political figures,” Titus says.

The NMSU Library has hired a political papers archivist and an additional staff member to specifically head up this project. The library is currently working to sort and catalog the documents in preparation for making them available to scholars. The Domenici Archives will eventually be housed in the Pete V. Domenici Building.

The Domenici Building will serve as the home for all aspects of the Domenici Legacy project. The building will be designed as a gateway to the university, welcoming the community to the NMSU campus. It will be prominently located next to the Business Complex on University Avenue between Interstates 10 and 25. The building will be a venue for the public to gather and to learn more about the senator’s work.

The Domenici Building also will house NMSU’s Arrowhead Center. Arrowhead is a nonprofit organization created to commercialize new technologies and stimulate economic growth in New Mexico. The Arrowhead Center was greatly supported by the senator during his time in office. Arrowhead’s work with the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Energy also blends perfectly with some of Sen. Domenici’s priorities during his time in the Senate.

Additionally, the Domenici building will eventually become home to the Domenici Institute, the first of its kind in New Mexico.

At the institute, researchers will have access to the Domenici Archives and will be able to study his contributions to economic development, energy, the federal budget, national security, natural resources, behavioral health, nuclear non-proliferation and other topics.

“We envision this as a place where scholars from around the state and the country will come to research the senator’s work in various fields and provide insight and guidance to pressing issues of today,” Carruthers says.

One of the most visible project activities will be the Domenici Public Policy Conference. NMSU plans to hold the event annually, at the beginning of each fall semester. During the event, scholars, world, state and local leaders, and friends of Sen. Domenici will come to celebrate his historic tenure and share his impact on public policy with conference attendees. Students from various New Mexico universities also will be given an opportunity to review and ask questions of academic speakers who wrote papers on Domenici’s influence in areas of public policy.

At the end of his term he will have served 36 years in Congress. He will rank as the longest-serving senator in New Mexico history and one of the top 15 longest-serving senators in U.S. history. While outlasting Bob Barker is certainly a sign of endurance in popular culture, the university hopes its efforts will cement the senator’s historic significance and chronicle his contributions for all time.

Those seeking more information on the project or conference can visit http://domenici.nmsu.edu. An NMSU Library Pete V. Domenici Web site also is being designed, which will allow the political archives to be shared around the world.