Every 10 years, following the census, it is necessary to go back to the drawing boards and re-juggle the boundary lines of our voting districts, supposedly in the interest of fairness.

For elected officials, this can be a perilous time as the powers that are in office can look closely at any incumbent living on the edge of a predesigned district and neatly eliminate his or her chances for re-election by a simple shuffle of space.

For the rest of the citizenry, of course, this is primarily just a major taxpayer expense with little accrued benefits. Considering the fact that most incumbents could easily be replaced, regardless of party, with no loss of either expertise or productivity for their constituents, it is hard to believe the sound and fury we will have to endure for the next few weeks.

In our case here in New Mexico, we are neither gaining nor losing national representation, so the whole exercise is truly merely a question of whose ox is going to get gored. Since turnover from this process is so incredibly low, and since that is the only potential true gain to be sought, this whole process would never survive a cost-benefit analysis.

Therefore the one thing we might wish to have happen is that our "special" session legislators will at least quickly address those "other" items on the agenda set by the governor. After all, it is costing us $50,000 per day.

The first one, that could actually be enacted in about 15 minutes of expended time, is the proposal to eliminate social promotion from the third grade. Most people whose agenda hasn't been corrupted realize that education is, without comparison, the major contribution to the future quality of life for every child. It is not the only influencing factor in a child's future but it is undoubtedly the most important.

Most educators also agree that to learn to read well and to comprehend what is written is an ongoing process, the success of which will become increasingly important as each student moves from grade to grade. If a child cannot read at grade level in the third grade, to promote him or her with this handicap to the next level of demand on his reading skills, is the same as condemning him or her to an inferior life. It's irrational. It's punitive. It's irresponsible.

Secondly, our governor has asked for a tightening up of this state's abysmal record of granting driver's licenses to individuals who may not be entitled to them. The original naïve excuse for granting them was that it would result in greater safety and insurance coverage. There is apparently no evidence that this has been accomplished. The more realistic reason for ignoring this bit of legal sanity has been that these recipients voted the Democratic Party line. Utah faced this dilemma smartly by printing boldface on the front of all such licenses, not for identification purposes. This solves both problems.

Adoption of such a program here in New Mexico, when there is a question as to the legitimacy of the applicant, would prevent our driver's licenses from being used for inappropriate purposes. As we pay due respects for the victims of 9/11, it is important to recall that most all the perpetrators of that horror possessed American driver's licenses to which they were not entitled. As the recent FBI sting has shown, New Mexico has been contributing to this problem.

And thirdly, if these legislators have the gumption, they could always take a few minutes and turn on the impeachment process and speedily resolve the gnawing questions raised by the behavior of a local PRC commissioner.

One should try to be optimistic about the performance of our legislators in spite of past history. These three items are virtually self-evident truths and could be dealt with in an efficient and straightforward manner. In the time it would take for three coffee breaks, each of them could be resolved and the session would be recorded as a success. What a wonderful opportunity.

Santa Fean Gregg Bemis is an industrialist/adventurer and concerned senior citizen.