Another academic year has come to a close. Lawrence streets are quiet. Memorial Day is just around the corner. And, like many faculty members, I’m beginning to decompress and ready myself for the expanded research and writing time the summer provides.

Every year about this time I spend a day sorting through all of the papers I have accumulated during the academic year. Usually I have a fairly large pile. I separate the pile into at least three smaller piles: the first consists of papers to file away for future use; the second is papers to discard; the third consists of papers which contain information or requests I need to act on now.

As I sit here in my study looking at these three piles, at the top of the third is a collection of envelopes, index cards, assorted scraps and other paper that contain brief notes of ideas for columns I’ve written down at some point over the past 12 months. None of these actually made it into a full-fledged column, usually because they wouldn’t support a long enough treatment.

So, I have decided under the principles of the old saying “waste not, want not,” that I’d use several of them for today’s column. Hence, here are some random thoughts which I’ve had over the last year:

Roundabouts: I hate roundabouts. When I lived in England during the early 1970s I used to dread roads with roundabouts. In fact, I used to have nightmares about being trapped in a roundabout and never being able to get out, rather like the poor man in the old folk song about the Boston MTA who went down into the subway but “never returned.” This actually once almost happened to me in Italy at the Piazza Vittorio Emmanuel, which has a roundabout. I spent a good ten minutes trying to figure out how to exit into a side road. If Lawrence must have roundabouts could they at least be of a sufficient size to be maneuverable?

Watering Lawns in the Rain: Every time I see automatic sprinkler systems pouring out water onto lawns during a rain shower I get furious. Water is a precious commodity and in increasingly short supply, especially here in the West. It’s questionable whether folks ought to water lawns at all, but certainly they ought not be doing so during rain showers. That’s pure waste. For some reason, it seems to me that banks are major offenders in this.

ROTC: Every time I see students wearing their ROTC uniforms on campus I can’t stop myself from wondering how long it will be until they find themselves in harm’s way in some foreign land. I admire these young men and women and I also hope that our national leaders will remember how precious their lives are and not waste them. Patriotism and commitment such as theirs should not be rewarded with carelessness or penny-pinching. If they must fight, then let us be sure that they fight for a good reason and that they have everything they need and deserve to ensure that they survive. I am tired of reading about soldiers dying because they lack adequate armor.

Education: The political battles going on over education in this state are truly depressing. It seems as though the Legislature and the State Board of Education simply don’t understand that the education of our children has to be a priority for the state. What will our economy be like in 20 years if we continue to underfund education? How can Kansas prepare students for the 21st century by teaching them 19th century pseudo-science?

Well, I have a good deal more scraps of paper with ideas for columns on them, but they’ll just have to wait for another year. Have a good Memorial Day weekend.