Every so often I do a column comprised of a variety of unrelated comments, each of which alone is too short to justify a column by itself. This is one of those columns.

Judge John Roberts. I think that President Bush made a very good choice in nominating Judge John Roberts to succeed Justice William Rehnquist as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Certainly, there are many political and legal points on which Judge Roberts and I differ, but there is no question in my mind that Judge Roberts is extremely well qualified and will bring a superb intellect to the Court and its decisions. Although I suspect that Justice Roberts will take positions on a number of issues with which I will disagree, I also think that it is impossible to predict how a justice will vote until he is on the Court and, further, I am keenly aware that what seem burning issues today may be far less significant in 10 years. We cannot predict the crucial issues of 10 or 20 years from now. Given this, it seems to me that the best one can hope for is a justice who is honest and intelligent. I have seen no evidence to suggest that Judge Roberts isn’t both.

Kansas Board of Education. The Board of Education never ceases to surprise me with its ability to spend money needlessly and undermine the quality of K-12 education in Kansas. I have been particularly impressed by two recent happenings. First, I find it remarkable that the Board hired a consultant to assist it in defining the type of person Kansas needs as the new Commissioner of Education and then rejected the consultant’s report. It’s particularly interesting that what they found objectionable in the report was the consultant’s belief that prior experience in educational matters was crucial. I wonder whether they would feel the same way in choosing a surgeon to operate on them? Would they think that experience and expertise in the field was a negative factor? I doubt it. Second, I have been astounded by the proposal to change the rules on sex education to make it an “opt-in” system. To my mind, what this would do would be to ensure that the children of parents who took no interest in their education would get no sex education in school. Since it is precisely those kids who will not get any sex education at home, they’ll be the ones most likely to get pregnant or be infected with sexually transmitted diseases. Wouldn’t the current “opt-out system” make more sense? So long as parents are told that this right exists, parents who care about their kids and don’t want them to have these classes in school will be able to opt-out.

Band Day. I have to confess this was the first year I watched the parade down Massachusetts Street for Band Day. It was just great. I was immensely impressed with how the band members performed. It’s not something you see in New York City where I grew up. I’m going to make sure I go every year from now on.

And, finally, a plug. This week, the first issue of a new magazine – published in cooperation with the Hall Center for the Humanities, called KU Dialogues – makes its appearance. Copies can be obtained at local bookstores or from the Hall Center. The first issue features an article on municipal resistance to the Patriot Act by Ellen Sward, lobbying for mental health issues in Topeka by Karen Manza, and on “academic fictions” by me. There’s also the first printing of some correspondence between Susan B. Anthony and Kate Stephens from the University Archives, and a narrative of an early trip to Horseshoe Lake. Contributions of fiction and non-fiction are invited for the next issue, which will appear in February 2006.