Two recent press releases from the offices of Sens. Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback listed funding approved by the Senate in the omnibus budget bill and later approved by President Bush.

In both press releases, the senators stressed their pleasure in being able to secure funding for a number of projects they claimed were terribly important to the state in areas such as agriculture, aerospace, law enforcement, water management, community development, family services, transportation, education and research.

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It was interesting, however, that the long lists, which contained the remaining spending bills for fiscal year 2005, didn’t include a single dime appropriated for a Lawrence or Kansas University project.

Haskell Indian Nations University did receive two appropriations — one for $1.225 million to construct a science center and another for $700,000 to buy equipment — but other than that, there was nothing for KU or Lawrence among the millions upon millions of dollars directed to Kansas.

This writer questioned whether this was a case of Roberts and Brownback not knowing what the needs in KU and Lawrence might be, whether Kansas State University and Manhattan officials were doing a better job of outlining their needs to the senators, or whether KU and Lawrence officials were not effectively telling their story to those in Washington.

Does K-State have some kind of special hold on the two senators? It stands to reason KU has many needs that would qualify for federal fiscal assistance. KU also has many highly talented faculty members in widely diverse academic fields who certainly measure up to the faculty at K-State or Wichita State University, both of which received far more federal help in the recent legislation.

What goes on? Why didn’t KU or Lawrence get anything?

Was this an unusual situation? Haskell certainly deserved the funding it received; this fine school historically has been at the tail end of any funding measures. But, again, why were Lawrence and KU left out?

A visit with officials in Roberts’ office provided some insight. In fact, when asked about the imbalance in funding, the staffers prepared a list of KU projects that have been approved and funded since 1998. Although the exact dollar figures were not totaled, the listings showed that, over the years, KU and K-State had received similar treatment.

Roberts made it clear Chancellor Robert Hemenway and his team of associates do a first-class job when they travel to Washington to detail and rank the fiscal desires and needs for KU.

He also didn’t hesitate to acknowledge he is an extremely loyal and devoted alumnus of K-State and that he bleeds purple when the K-State Wildcats are competing against the Jayhawks or athletic teams from other schools. However, he said, when it comes to supporting education funding for Kansas, he tries his best to be fair and objective in assessing the need.

There’s every reason to believe Brownback and his staffers have the same philosophy.

Nevertheless, it is both interesting and puzzling to consider why KU and Lawrence were left out of the funding program.

There may be reason to question just how much effort is made by Lawrence officials to present their needs to members of the Kansas delegation.

It is hoped a sense of complacency has not entered the thinking of Lawrence city officials or Chamber of Commerce leaders. Lawrence is a great place to live and should be an attractive city for new business, manufacturing and research facilities. But it is essential to tell the story!

They are old adages, but they make a lot of sense today: The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and luck favors the prepared mind.

How much squeaking, how much well-thought-out campaigning and how much study and research has been put into the efforts to impress Kansas’ elected representatives in Washington or other federal officials about the justified, documented need to invest in the state’s infrastructure, education, commerce and research?

This year, KU and Lawrence were blanked in the senators’ appropriations. This, indeed, is an unusual situation, but KU and Lawrence officials need to make sure there is no justification for anyone in Washington to suggest they haven’t had sufficient information to know about the needs back home.

KU is reported to do a good job in this regard, but there are questions about the city’s effort and the city’s reputation in Washington.

Let’s hope next year’s omnibus bill coming out of the Senate contains many well-deserved, important funding appropriations for Lawrence and KU.