After Indiana University tore down the old Tenth Street Stadium (featured in the movie Breaking Away, a very large arboretum was designed and built. It included lots of sidewalks so that students could traverse the large open space.

Know what? The landscape architects included some walkways that were not in the natural traffic patterns that quickly developed when the students returned in the fall. They failed to put sidewalks in other areas that rapidly turned into muddy ruts under the constant pressure of thousands of feet.

Did IU fence off the shortcuts and other foot-worn pathways to force traffic back onto the existing sidewalks? No.

Maintenance quickly filled the pathways with mulch that winter and come spring, several new sidewalks were poured in recognition of the reality - 30,000 students will create paths that make the most sense to them, rigid architecture be ****ed. Some of the pointless walkways to nowhere were even ripped up. I suppose herds of most large animals behave similarly.

That a large university would rearrange new sidewalks to accomodate the constituents rather than installing signs warning to "KEEP OFF THE GRASS" and "STAY ON THE WALKS" -- was an indication that arbitrary regimentation would not always be required.

Accordingly, I disagreed with the decision last year to create so many new fora. Even the Grand Rapids, MI airport has its own forum. We've even joked in MilesBuzz about the banishment of our own threads to TravelBuzz or, Heaven Forbid, OMNI, and how that will cut down significantly on the discussion.

Still, I rarely tell my hosts how they should arrange their living room furniture or design their gardens. And since this is Randy's place, I respect his decision on such matters. After all, they're his sidewalks and he's gracious enough to let us walk all over them (even when some FTers stage a food fight and trash the place).

[This message has been edited by FWAAA (edited 02-28-2002).]