Antibiotic resistance challengesadvice to “Take your medicine”

IN THEWORKS

Libraries facerunaway costs

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Going full circle...page 3

March Madness–Joyce style

...page 8

By Bill Gilroy

For 15 years, ShahriarMobashery has beenaddressing a trend thatsociety only now isunderstanding: Antibioticresistance has become amajor public health problem.

“For the past 50 or 60 years,we’ve been able to stay one stepahead of traditional infections,”says Mobashery, a bio-organicchemist. “However, in the next 10to 20 years, all eight broad classesof antibiotics will be obsolete.”

Among signs of this health crisis: In 2002, a strain ofstaphylococcus aureus called “hospital staph” became resistant toantibiotic treatment. This turn of events has been covered by thenational media, often in disturbing detail.

In early March, The American Academy of Pediatrics and theAmerican Academy of Family Practice began recommending thatdoctors avoid prescribing antibiotics for ear infections in children. Thegroups believe that if they can reduce antibiotic use for such infections,they can stop the rise of antibiotic-resistant germs.

The attention is warranted and welcome, according to Mobashery:“It is both a global societal problem and an elaborate and challengingscientific problem.” His research team works at the genetic level andhas created a synthetic molecule that wreaks havoc in healthy bacteriasomewhat like the havoc bacteria wreak in us. The team now isexamining ways to simplify the synthesis of this compound that bindsto a very specific place on the bacteria’s protein-making machinery,called the ribosome. Their goal is a new class of antibiotics.

From the 1940s to the 1970s, several new classes of antibioticswere introduced that checked infections and saved hundreds of millions

Their secret to field care:Don’t forget thegreen paint

softball diamonds, men’s andwomen’s lacrosse fields, tenniscourts, and spring facilities forfootball and soccer.

“We have the guys going 50to 60 hours a week at times,” hesays. “But they look forward to it.It’s this excellent crew that makesthe whole system go. They’rereally dedicated to their jobs.”

It’s a veteran group too,except for student helpers. The

By Ken BradfordDan Brazo isn’t the guy to ask about lawn care.

“I have the worst lawn in my neighborhood,” saysBrazo, manager of athletics facilities. “It’s probably theworst in the county.”

“After looking at fields all day, the last thing I want to do when Iget home is worry about grass.”

newest employee on staff hasseven years under his belt already,and the median experience level is15 to 20 years.

They’ll work at top speedthrough summer, according toBrazo. With summer sports camps

of lives. The miracles of the so-called “Golden Age ofAntibiotics” led former U.S.Surgeon General William Stewartto declare in that late 1960s that itwas time to “close the book oninfectious diseases.”

But the increasing use ofantibiotics during the “GoldenAge” gave rise to now-resistantmicroorganisms. And despite howimpressively antibiotics haveperformed, infectious diseasesremain the leading cause ofmortality globally.

“Through a precise series ofbiochemical events, bacteria have‘selected’ for drug resistance,”Mobashery says. A prescribedantibiotic kills a vast majority ofsusceptible bacteria, but one orseveral may survive thetreatment. Since their susceptiblecompetitors have been destroyed,the nutritional resources areessentially limitless for resistantbacteria. “The body provides awonderful incubator where theresistant bacterium growsunencumbered,” Mobasherynotes.

In addition to this selectiveprocess, inappropriate use ofantibiotics has increased thephenomenon of antibioticresistance. Roughly 40 percent ofchildren who see a doctor for acommon viral cold are prescribed

antibiotics. Yet antibiotics are noteffective for viruses, such ascolds.

Many patients, feeling betterafter a day or two of antibiotics,fail to follow the full course oftreatment. Taking the drug when itis not appropriate or not taking itin the proscribed manner providesfertile ground for resistance.

Mobashery notes thatantibiotic resistance to staph is aparticular concern. “Staphinfection has long been a concernin hospitals,” he says. “In the last10 years, it has also emerged as aconcern in prisons and schools,where people are in close contactwith one another.”

A frightening newphenomenon is the communityonset of staph infections outsideof these institutions. “Staph isvery common,” Mobashery says.“Twenty-five percent of us have iton our skin or in our body cavitiesat any time. If you shake handswith eight people in a given day,two have it.”

During the 1940s and ’50s, 90percent of staph infections couldbe successfully treated withantibiotics. “Because of increasingantibiotic resistance, that figureisnow down to 30 to 40 percentand it continues to decline.

Brazo has been worryingabout 70 acres of high-profilecampus grass ever since he joinedthe University staff 11 years ago.Almost anytime a varsity team isplaying an outdoor sport, Brazo’screw of 14 full-time workers isstanding by, thinking about thingsthat can go wrong.

Spring is busy. For the nextcouple of months, his crews arekeeping track of the baseball and

on campus, there are more athleticcontests played during the summerthan at any other time.

“Our job is to provide thesafest and most aesthetically

We have bungeepolice?!?

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Mobashery

continued on page 2

continued on page 7

At the Eck baseball stadium, the grounds crew bundles up as it readiesthe field for the season opener. Noel Easton, from left, pulls the tarpwith the help of Steve Gibson, Yul Hubbard and Jeff Duval. Photo byLou Sabo

Vol. 1, No. 6April 1, 2004

Forum

Page 2

Hey Ted, any interest inwriting an op-ed column aboutreality TV? I got the e-mail lastspring from the good people atthe University’s News andInformation shop. Hmm, I’venever written an op-ed. Notexactly sure what makes asuccessful op-ed columnist. But Ido watch reality TV. (And you dotoo, so put the nose down.)

Sure, count me in.

Thus began my yearlongventure into the world of the op-ed writer: My personal POV (filmtalk for point of view) on mattersof the media. I wrote on realityTV. I wrote on the Little LeagueWorld Series. I wrote on the blackhole of local TV news, thejabbermouths of talk radio, theTV timeouts at ND footballgames, Janet Jackson’s rightbreast, the pummeling in “ThePassion.”

I’ve been published in theBoston Globe, Chicago SunTimes, and now a monthly 700words in the Indianapolis Star.I’ve learned a lot.

I’ve learned that no matterhow I arrange the words, there’s asocially induced dyslexia inreaders that processes paragraphsand spits out stereotypes.

On “The Passion of theChrist,” I commented, “Thiswasn’t suffering. It was a pay-per-view professional wrestling matchtaken way, way over the top. Amutilation in overblown close-upsand Dolby THX surround sound.”

Strangers wrote back.

“How in the world could youfind the violence in this filmunacceptable? …I feel very sadfor your students for they will notlearn to make fair comparisonsby you.”–Carmel, Ind.

“You must be veryhardhearted not to have comeaway without feeling what a priceHE paid for you. I feel sorry foryou.”–West Baden Springs, Ind.

“Try reading the Gospels(allfour) or at least the passagesrelating to the time period of thefilm. Then read Isaiah 53, aprophecy of the passion of Christ.Try it (Isaiah 53) in severalversions to get a nuance oflanguage. Then see the movieagain.”–Greenwood, Ind.

On the subject of talk radio Iwrote, “Irritating and instigating,the key to successful talk radio isthe same thing that makes BillyBlowhard the most popular kid inthe eighth grade. Be the magnetof attention. Obnoxious enough tocatch the notice of the closest pairof ears, clever enough to stay outof trouble with those you’relampooning.”

More strangers responded.

“You’re just another liberalcollege A-hole. May God havemercy on you. Now go tell somemore liberal lies to yourstudents.”–e-mail.

“When my son and I visitedNotre Dame in October, we weretold that the majority of thefaculty were Christian. I wonderwhere your faith is, as you attackthe very people who are in the

I am not a liberal, anti-Christian, low-carb,

low-fat eater

Ted Mandell teaches in the Department of Film,Television and Theatre.

Mandell

ND Works is published for the facultyand staff of the University of NotreDame. It is produced by the Office ofPublic Affairs and Communication inconjunction with the offices of HumanResources and Business Operationsand the Provost’s Office. ND Works isproduced semimonthly during the falland spring semesters when classesare in session and once duringsummer session.

PUBLISHERRoberto GutiérrezEXECUTIVE EDITORMatthew StorinEDITOR IN CHIEFGail Hinchion ManciniLAYOUT EDITORWai Mun LIew-SpilgerPHOTO EDITORBryce Richter

Comments should be forwarded to:ndworks@nd.edu or to NDWorks, 405 Main, Notre Dame, IN 46556.

forefront in trying to protect ourreligious freedom and heritage.”–e-mail.

“I sure hope the kids in yourclass are listening to talk radio alittle because I am sure they aregetting exposed to a good amountof liberalism and, dare I say, alittle bit of information lacking infacts”–e-mail.

The perils of voicing anopinion.

Despite never mentioningreligion or politics, I am seen asreligiously lacking and politicallypoisoned. I live in a time whenmy written thoughts sadly defineme as one of two possibleprofiles.

Liberal or conservative.Believer or pretender.

Congratulations,America. We’vetriumphantlyoversimplified, downsized,and pigeonholed the mostdiverse melting pot ofpeople ever throwntogether under oneConstitution into twohomogenous choices. Nomatter the topic.

Are you in or are youout? Low carb or low fat?

If you can’t defineyourself by one word, youmust be wishy-washy, confused,or an academic.

I’m not liberal. I’m notconservative. I eat carbs and fat.What’s wrong with me? I’mCatholic but apparently to some,not a Christian.

Antibiotic resistancecontinued from page 1

There are many steps thatboth individuals and health-carepractitioners can take to slow theemergence of resistant bacteria.However, there are clear clinicalneeds that only the discovery ofnovel classes of antibiotics canaddress, according to Mobashery.

In their work, Mobashery andhis team have found a way todisrupt the ribosome’s protein-making machinery at a key place,called the acyl transfer site, or “ASite.” Tests have shown thattheir molecule works exactly asthey hoped. But making themolecule has been a laborious

process, involving 14 tedioussteps. If they can find a way toexpedite the synthesis of theirnew compound, they will be wellon their way to introducing anentirely new class of antibiotic tothe public.

Despite the efforts ofMobashery and other researchersto usher in a new golden age ofantibiotics, getting their solutionsinto the hands of patients will bedifficult. The economics of thepharmaceutical industrycomplicate the search for newclasses of antibiotics. It takes anestimated half a billion dollars tobring a new drug to market.

“It’s not lucrative forpharmaceutical companies todevelop and market a newantibiotic,” Mobashery says. “Itis used for only a week or 10days at time and may earn thecompany hundreds of millionsof dollars. In contrast, a drugthat will be used continually forlong periods of time, like Viagra,will earn $6 billion annually.”

Law professorcritical ofbishops’

diocesan taxcollecting

By Michael O. GarveyAmerica’s Catholic bishops should practice what

they preach, according to Law School professorMatthew J. Barrett.

In an article in the March 29 edition of America magazine,Barrett observes that under the canon law of the CatholicChurch, “bishops are often tax collectors too, regularly levyingtariffs on the parishes of their dioceses…sometimes calleddiocesan assessments, quotas, mandatory targets or fees,” but hecites a 2003 Notre Dame Law School study to assert “thatbishops who impose diocesan taxes in the United States use flattax rates almost four times more frequently than progressiverates.”

Barrett argues that this practice contravenes the imperativesof Catholic social teaching,which insists that tax burdensbe proportionate to citizens’ability to pay. This emphasison distributive justice hasroots as ancient as the Gospelaccounts of the Apostles’common purse and wasaffirmed by the Americanbishops as recently as their1986 pastoral letter on theeconomy, which, Barrett says,“explicitly endorsed aprogressive tax scheme‘based on assessmentaccording to ability to pay’ asa ‘prime necessity’ for basicjustice.”

“The bishops would do well to follow their own counsel,”Barrett writes. “Both collectively and individually, they shouldreview their diocesan tax policies and practices to determinewhether they ‘flow from the ethical moral vision’ articulated intheir pastoral letter.”

A longer version of the article will soon appear in The Jurist.

A member of the Notre Dame Law School faculty since1990, Barrett teaches business-related courses, includingaccounting for lawyers and federal income taxation. He is acertified public accountant and coauthor of the second edition ofthe law school casebook “Accounting for Lawyers.”

Barrett

Of Notecontinued from page 3

Theologian D’Angeloreceives NEHfellowship

Mary R. D’Angelo, associateprofessor of theology, has receiveda research fellowship from theNational Endowment for theHumanities (NEH), bringing to 17

the number of NEH fellowshipsawarded to Notre Dame in thepast five years, more than for anyother research university in thenation.

D’Angelo studies the originsof Christianity, Judaism in Romanantiquity, and Greek and Romanreligion, with particular interestsin women and gender in ancientreligion, and in the history ofexegesis.

Presidential post brings Mooney full circleBy Walt Collins

It’s going on 32 years since Carol Mooney left Saint Mary’s College with a bachelor’s degree inEnglish. It will be almost exactly 32 years on June 1 when she returns to her alma mater as its 11thpresident and the first lay alumna ever to hold that office.

She’s achieved a lot in the interim. She collected a Notre Dame law degree in 1977 with the highest cumulative gradepoint average in the class. She spent a year with a Washington, D.C., law firm, then joined the faculty of Notre Dame’s lawschool, rose to full professor, and was appointed vice president and associate provost of the University, the job she will beleaving at the end of May.

Her selection to replace retiring President Marilou Eldred followed a 10-month search by the College. She emerged froma group of four finalists, says Sister Joan Marie Steadman, C.S.C., chair of the Saint Mary’s board of trustees, because theboard “believes she brings exceptional gifts and is confident of her ability to provide strong leadership and creative directionfor the College.” Her Notre Dame boss, Nathan Hatch, predicts that she’ll contribute “exceptionally strong administrativeskills” to her new job.

Of Note

PROFILE

Page 3

In her student years, Mooney lived through the “merger-unmerger” episode when Saint Mary’s and Notre Dame cameclose to a union that foundered at the eleventh hour. Even thoughat the time she had “no strong feelings either way,” she says now:“I think it was absolutely the right decision. I think even then Irealized what was at stake for Saint Mary’s—it would be a loss ofidentity that would be irretrievable.”

She is returning to a Saint Mary’s that is “a very stronginstitution now but has the potential to be even stronger,” she says.“I believe in women’s colleges and the benefits they bring towomen. And I’ve long felt that my vocation is to Catholic highereducation. Add to that that I’m an alum and it’s a nice package ofthings that are attractive to me.”

How those feelings will translate into her vision for theCollege remains to be seen; she feels it’s premature to list specificgoals. “Before I set my agenda I need to know a lot more aboutwhat other people at Saint Mary’s want the agenda to be, becausethere’s no sense in being a leader if nobody’s walking behindyou.”

One issue she feels strongly about surfaces in a discussion ofgoals, however: “I think Saint Mary’s has to work very hard ongreater diversity among its faculty and student body. I knowthey’ve worked on this issue for a couple of decades, but it’s stillsort of a glaring issue for the College. Until that’s accomplished, itwill hold the College back.”

While she feels it’s too earlyfor her to talk in detail about theCollege’s academic landscape,she is “very impressed by theCenter for Women’s InterCulturalLeadership,” which she thinks “isexactly the sort of thing SaintMary’s should be doing.” TheCenter, funded by a grant fromthe Lilly Endowment Inc., aims tohelp women collaborate to makea difference in their worlds and tofoster the next generation ofwomen leaders.

Mooney has no doubt that heradministrative experience atNotre Dame will prove an asset inher new role. Her responsibilitiesin the provost’s office includetenure and promotion matters;strategies for faculty recruitment,in particular recruitment ofCatholics, women and people ofcolor; and issues related toprofessional education. She’s

participated in the budget processand made building decisions.

Mooney concedes that shehas not had much exposure to thefundraising aspect of her newjob—an important function forcollege presidents—but thatdoesn’t daunt her. “In any salesjob—if I can be so crass as to callit that—the key is to believe inyour product, and I believe sostrongly in Saint Mary’s that Ican tell the story and buildrelationships with people.”

Community relations isanother presidential function shefeels confident about, althoughshe anticipates a bit of help inthat direction from her husband,George Efta, who has long beeninvolved in such local projects asChristmas in April and similarsocial service activities. Much ofMooney’s own volunteerism has

Hehir to receive 2004 Laetare Medal

By Michael O. GarveyRev. J. Bryan Hehir, president and treasurer of

Catholic Charities for the Archdiocese of Boston and adistinguished scholar on the theory of Just War, has beenawarded Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal for 2004. He willreceive the medal, the oldest and most prestigious honorgiven to American Catholics, during the University’s159th Commencement exercises May 16.

Before his most recent appointment last January, Hehir hadserved as president and chief executive officer of Catholic CharitiesUSA since 2001. He had been on the faculty of Harvard DivinitySchool beginning in 1993 as a professor of the practice of religionin society. From 1998 to 2001, he was the first Catholic priest tolead Harvard Divinity School, forgoing the title of dean andresidence in the dean’s mansion to demonstrate the priority of hisduty to the church.

Prior to his years at Harvard, Hehir worked for two decades inWashington in what was then called the United States CatholicConference (now the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops), asdirector of its international affairs office, secretary of its Departmentof Social Development and World Peace, and a counselor for socialpolicy.

From 1984 to 1992 he also served on the faculty at GeorgetownUniversity in Washington, specializing in ethics. He has beenappointed the Parker Gilbert Montgomery Professor of the Practiceof Religion and Public Life at Harvard’s Kennedy School ofGovernment, a position which he will assume this fall. Hehir isregarded as the principal architect of the bishops’ influential 1982

pastoral letter on nuclear weapons, which called for reducing thenation’s nuclear arsenal.

He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,the American Philosophical Society, the Council on Foreign Relations,and the Catholic Theological Society of America.

The Laetare Medal, established in 1883, is so named because itsrecipient is announced each year in celebration of Laetare Sunday, thefourth Sunday in Lent on the Church calendar.

been related to the legalprofession, but she also servedon the Saint Joseph’s HighSchool board of education forfour years and is a member ofthe board of the FischoffNational Chamber MusicAssociation. “Working as ateam with my husband,” shesays, “I think we can keepgood relations and evenestablish more.

“George,” she adds, “is awooden toymaker and hasbeen for 31 years; he’s workedout of our home and borne thelarger of the childcareresponsibilities.” The couplehas four daughters, two ofwhom—Elizabeth andChristine—have finishedcollege. The younger two—twins Caitlin and Valerie—aresophomores at Notre Dame.

Historian Marsdenwins national bookawards

George M. Marsden, FrancisA. McAnaney Professor ofHistory, is the recent recipient ofthree national prizes for hisbiography “Jonathan Edwards: ALife” (Yale University Press).

One of three winners ofColumbia University’sprestigious Bancroft Prize for2004, Marsden was selected fromamong an unusually crowdedfield of 180 authors whose bookswere nominated for this year’sbest in American history.

He also has received the 2004Merle Curti Award for the bestbook in intellectual history fromthe Organization of AmericanHistorians (OAH), and the 2003through 2005 biennial AnnibelJenkins Prize, given by theAmerican Society for EighteenthCentury Studies (ASECS) to theauthor of the best book-lengthbiography of a late 17th or 18thcentury subject.

Mooney

HehirCourtesy of The Pilot, Archdiocese of Boston

continued on page 2

LIBRARIES AT T

Page 4 ND

By Gail Hinchion ManciniForty years ago, the University was putting the finishing

touches on a majestic new main library building by installingthe “Word of Life” mural. The library’s collection was stillcatalogued on index-size cards, but its mission was ambitiousand futuristic: to support the scholarship of what was to becomea major research university.

Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., whose idea it was to ornament the13-story structure to prevent its looking like “a grain silo,” marvels that themural has survived so handily, given the cold, heat and buffeting winds.

Electronic jouconnection

Inside, librarians have foundthat the winds of change in theinformation delivery business havebeen less kind. The once-revolutionary world of electroniclibrary resources that pushed asidethe card catalogue has become—atleast in the area of electronicjournals—a fiscal race being runnot to win but simply to stay inplace.

As a result of tight budgets, theLibraries staff has canceled, in thelast two years, more than 1,500electronic journal subscriptions anddiscontinued the print versions ofanother 1,000 journals.

Now facing the need to cutfurther, the staff says it musteliminate that which the Universityshould not do without. “For thefirst time,” says Associate LibrariesDirector Gay Dannelly, “this ishurting everybody.”

Says Carole Pilkinton, directorof electronic resources, “We’veassembled a wonderful electronicpalate for scholars, anddisassembling it is breaking ourhearts.”

The promise andproblems of electronicjournals

The earliest electronic libraryresources went online in the early1990s, as desktops were becomingan essential tool. The concept iswonderful: Faculty, staff andstudents can access researchinformation from any place with anInternet connection. That facultyand staff want even more electronicaccess to research materials was thekey finding of a recent user survey,Pilkinton says. “It came up overand over, like a drumbeat.”

The heart of the troublesurrounding the electronicperiodicals movement is not thetechnology itself, but the strangeeconomics of knowledge. Bynature, the information in thesejournals and periodicals cannot befound elsewhere; the publishershave a captive audience. In caseswhere the journals are consideredprestigious (the popular media, forexample, frequently reportsfindings of the Journal of theAmerican Medical Association),publishing in them can boost anacademic career.

Some argue that all knowledgeshould be free, but thesecircumstances allow publishers tocharge well above cost-of-livingincreases. Inflation is so rapid that,left unaddressed, periodicalsexpenditures would double everyseven years. In times of flateconomic activity, as characterizedthe period between 2001 and 2003in higher education, libraries loseground. In times of budget cuts,which drained Notre Dame’s 2004library budget and most librarybudgets across the country, a crisisarises.

A good deal soursThe groundwork for the current

crisis–and its association as anelectronic issue–was laid in the late1990s, when commercial publishersand research libraries begannegotiating favorable deals thatwould provide Internet access toscholarly journals. Notre Damejoined a consortium of Ivy Leagueresearch libraries. called theNortheast Research LibraryConsortium (NERL). The groupnegotiated deals with commercialpublishers that provided access to

significant numbers of electronicjournals. For a library likeHarvard’s, the licensing agreementsrepresented good business. For alibrary like Notre Dame’s that wasmaking a transition from a collegelibrary to a research library, thedeals were transformative, saysDannelly.

In one such deal struck withElsevier, the largest commericalpublisher and whose annualsubscription bill is more than $2million–Notre Dame gained accessto 800 new electronic titles beyondthe 400 Elsevier titles to which ithad already been subscribing.

Overnight, academic disciplines,such as the social sciences, that hadhad meager journal resources gainedaccess to hundreds of journals. Aresearcher such as David Smith, anassociate professor of psychology,gained access to psychologyjournals but also to medicalassociation journals on psychiatrythat support his work in clinicalpsychology. This subtle advantagehas repeated itself as the Universityhas become involved in biomedicaland cancer research.

Furthermore, notes LibrariesDirector Jennifer Younger, thisbroad-based resource served arapidly growing faculty with broadresearch interests. The librarysimply wasn’t in the position tocustom-tailor a collection for eachnew faculty member, nor could itpredict the interest areas of the newfaculty to come. The commercialpublishers helped establish a ready-made response to a difficultchallenge.

And the Elsevier deal really wasa deal. Journal inflation wasoccurring at a rate of 10 percent ayear, and Elsevier promised to capthat at something lower. Thepublishers charged a cross-accessfee, but it was nominal compared totheir subscription charges. Buthere’s the catch that has come backto haunt Notre Dame, NERL and allresearch libraries: The licensingagreements required thatuniversities commit to carrying thetitles they had been subscribing towhen the contracts were signed 400titles, in the case of Notre Dame’sElsevier contract. Four years later,even with inflation caps, the cost ofthose 400 titles and other licensedtitles has skyrocked. The inexorablygrowing percentage of the budgettied up in the packages hashamstrung the Libraries’ ability tobalance its budget in difficult timesand to fairly serve all areas.

The rock and the hardplace

“For the humanities—certainlyfor history—the library is ourlaboratory. And we need a well-

Below right: From his office in the chemistry and physics library inNieuwland Hall, Thurston Miller surveys statistics that compare the useof e-journal publishers from commercial publishers to e-journals ofprofessional associations.Below left: Gay Dannelly, from left, associate Libraries director; CarolePilkinton, director of electronic resources, and Jennifer Younger, Librariesdirector, review notes on cuts made to date to balance the Libraries'budget. Photo by Bryce Richter.

Page 5

HE CROSSROAD

orks

rnals create a and a crisis

The Libraries staff already has eliminated manyjournals in order to balance its budget. These cuts aredescribed on a recently launched Web site,http://www.nd.edu/~colldev/library_budget_cuts/serials.shtml.

In deciding what to cut, the staff’s goal was to retainas much unique content as possible, says JenniferYounger, Libraries director. These decisions alsoconsidered the individual needs of each discipline.“Cuts were not just made across the board,” Youngersaid.

stocked laboratory,” says GailBederman, associate professor ofhistory, who represents humanitieson the University Committee onLibraries. “So much money isbeing drained by these commercialpublishers, the pie has shrunk. Wecan’t stock our library because ofthe money going to journals.”

Bederman has visited theLibraries’ Web site on discontinuedresources, and mourned the loss,among other publications, of TheWomen’s Review of Books.“That’s a standard,” she says. Yetshe acknowledges that difficultchoices have to be made. As chairof the same committee, Smith isconcerned that an inequitable costis being borne by departments thatare not benefiting, such as thehumanities.

Thurston Miller, director of thechemistry and physics libraries, candocument a different view of whois being hurt. Journals are oftenconsidered the primary publicationvehicle of scientists, whilehumanities scholarship is expressedmore frequently in books. If primebeneficiaries of electronic journalsare believed to be the sciences andengineering, then logically, theymust be the ones gaining at theexpense of others.

Miller has a number ofspreadsheets—his strongest data ison chemistry—that proveotherwise. His analysisdemonstrates, first, that the “free”electronic journals in thecommercial packages make littlecontribution to chemical research atNotre Dame. Then it shows thatamong the Elsevier titles thatcannot be canceled, about a dozenare heavily used. Faced withcutting his budget, the logical cutswould be those titles provided byElsevier that are not well used.

Outside the licensingagreement, Miller’s budgetsupports dozens of noncommercialjournals—usually published byprofessional associations andsocieties—that show heavy use andthat he considers essential. Theirsubscription rates also are relativelyinexpensive. But facing a budget

crisis, Miller is forced to protect thetitles in the commercial packagesand cut the more heavily used,more reasonably priced, journals..

“Today I’m trying to find waysto cut my 2005 budget,” he said.“And it looks like I’m going tohave to cut from my most valuablejournals.”

No one faults Miller forwishing: “I’d like to have thefreedom to cut the titles that aren’tbeing used.”

To cancel or not tocancel

Whether Notre Dame—or anyresearch library throughout thecountry—will remain in theselicensing agreements is one of thehottest issues in U.S. highereducation today. And it’s fair to saythat all are crossing their fingersthat a new economic model willemerge from this controversy thatwill loosen the grip of thecommercial publishers. (If mediareports are indicative, it’s fair to sayacademics would like to see thesecommercial publishers crushed.)

But canceling would have someserious repercussions:

• Two-thirds of the currentelectronic journals—the “free”journals”—would instantlydisappear. “But our statistics showthat they’re used,” Pilkinton says.

• Connection to archived backissues of the 800 “free” journalswould cease.

• Interlibrary loan requests for thediscontinued items would drive upcosts. (Interlibrary loan items cancost up to $33 per request.)

• Individual subscriptions would bemore costly than the pricing underthe packages, so returning to the400 original subscriptions would beunaffordable.

• Gains for areas like the socialsciences would be wiped out.

The bigger pictureYounger is the first to

acknowledge how much theUniversity has invested in theUniversity libraries in the past 15years: In an effort to match theLibraries’ strength to the increasingstrength of academic programs, theUniversity provided new money forseveral consecutive years in the1990s. The Developmentdepartment, too, has made librarystrength a priority, attracting animpressive number of endowmentsthat have allowed for collectionsgrowth.

During the 1990s, the Libraries’budget was the fastest growingamong academic units. Theinvestment has paid off: UniversityLibraries rank between 13th and15th among top 20 universities,while the University’s overallposition is 19th.

And the Libraries’ expensesaren’t the only ones subject torunaway inflation, says JohnAffleck-Graves, associate provostand vice president.

Since the economic revolutiondoes not appear imminent, the onus,Affleck-Graves says, “is on us.”The faculty will have to negotiatethese waters, assuring, first, thatareas of traditional strength in thelibrary are not being disadvantagedby the drain of electronic journalsand, second, that every difficultchoice about what’s necessary andwhat’s not, is made.

“The academic community hasto rally to help us build a financialmodel that fits within our financialconstrictions,” he says. “If theLibraries budget is to be bigger,how much bigger? And what do wegive up to get there?”

Graph at right, the most steeply climbing lines represent a more than 225percent increase in journal costs. The middle cluster connotes the rising

cost of monographs (75 perrcent) and monograph expenditures (62percent). The bottom lines shows a 9 percent increase in journalsubscriptions; and a 5 percent decline in monograph purchases.

Courtesy of Association of Research Libraries

Two questions guided their decisions: Could thelibrary eliminate a subscription to a paper copy that italready was receiving electronically? What journalsweren’t being used?

The library posts usage statistics for databases andelectronic resources that demonstrate which of thecommercial package titles are well used and which arenot. Those reports are athttp://www.nd.edu/~electres/stats/index.shtml.

Difficult choices: The early rounds

Page 6

RISK MANAGEMENT

WHAT THEY WERE DOING

By Jan SpaldingIf your business card reads “Risk Management and

Safety,” you have many hats to wear. And sometimes—asmembers of Notre Dame’s risk management team willtell—you wish you could pull one of them right down overyour eyes.

But the whole point of risk management is, if it’s risky, gruesome,life- or health-threatening or just something that can be prevented, thestaff has to deal with it.

To the students attempting back flips on a trampoline in order to

Risk management sees all– Sometimes too much

stick upside down to a Velcrowall, the risk managementrepresentative who stops theshow is a killjoy. But in thegrander scheme of Universitysafety priorities, they are seen asfriendly saviors.

The Notre Dame RiskManagement and Safety staffsees it all, from fire drills tochemical spills; from carpaltunnel syndrome to stadiumevacuation planning.

In his day job, Rev. Brian Daley is a theologian who specializes in the study of the early Church,particularly the development of Christian doctrine from the fourth to the eighth centuries. For fun, helikes boxing. On the final day of the Bengal Bouts, Daley encourages Matt Schmitt toward a win in the140 lb. championship. Daley has served as faculty advisor of the women’s boxing club and urges all toattend the women’s October bouts event, where technical skill is displayed.Photo by Matt Bennett.

“We try not to be nitpicky, trynot to be like a regulatoryagency. But that is our job, andlots of things could go wrong ifwe don’t do our job,” saysRobert Zerr, the University’s riskmanagement and safety director.“We do see some of the badthings.”

Zerr came to Notre Dame 25years ago as a health physicist tocompel the safe use ofradioactive materials on campus.Over the years, he has seen aformal risk managementoperation develop as the healthand safety department has grown,and as the division took on thetasks of purchasing insuranceand managing risk situations.Today, 10 full-time staff andthree part-time students serve thecampus.

“We have a great staff,” saysZerr, with the kind ofappreciation that hints: You’dwant to work with great people,too, if you did what we did.

Making sure the Universityhas adequate property insurance

or state-of-the-art fire detectionequipment isn’t the hard stuff.When you oversee the safety ofall faculty, staff, students andvisitors on the Notre Damecampus, the issues can get a bitdepressing, Zerr admits. In fact,they can become confrontational.(Who among us wants the job ofnixing a proposal to install acampus crane for bungeejumping?)

Certainly the riskmanagement staff will say theirrole in working with studentsgroups and events approval iscolorful. It’s no surprise thatwhen an attempt to lower risks ofa proposed activity doesn’t work(OK, so what about a smallercrane?), they often must just sayno.

Were a hazardous spill to occur, the risk management team would be ready. Examining equipment, from left,are Robert Zerr, Michael McCauslin, Andy Welding, and Mary Carol Nagle. Photo by Bryce Richter.

“We don’t mind being the badguy; we see it as a way toeducate,” Zerr says.

Providing a safe environmentfor faculty, staff, students andvisitors means buildingrelationships throughout campus.Zerr and his staff have establishedseven safety committees to be theeyes and ears of the department.With the myriad of responsibilitiesthat fall within the riskmanagement charge, thesecommittees are key to helpingZerr and his staff prepare andeducate.

“The staff does a great job ofrelating and taking a positiveapproach,” Zerr says. It may takefalling off a ladder during a safetypresentation, or passing off Play-Doh as a suspicious compound ata chemical safety briefing, butkeeping a sense of humor helpsbuild the rapport needed to instillthe seriousness of the issues theypresent.

One of the department’scharges is to purchase andmaintain accountability for all

property, casualty and liabilityinsurance and to manage coveragefor the University’s 300 vehicles.When the library flooded this pastJanuary, risk management’s role asrisk auditors was to help keeptrack of costs and bring inremedial help (from their databaseof pre-approved vendors andcontractors) for cleanup andrepairs.

Lab safety and training,chemical, radiological andbiological waste management, aswell as environmental safetyissues are risk managementresponsibilities. While thesecompliance issues are important,the department also works closelywith the University firedepartment, security and others inthe training of spill cleanup,disasters and other emergencyplans.

Art history meeting coverswar’s cost

Artistic and archeological treasures lost in the recent war inIraq will be discussed during the annual Midwest Art HistorySociety’s conference taking place on campus this weekend. Apanel discussion on the topic will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday inMcKenna Hall auditorium.

On Thursday. Bruce Cole, chairman of the NationalEndowment for the Humanities, opens the conference with anaddress “The NEH: A Portrait,” at 7:30 p.m. in the AnnenbergAuditorium of the Snite Museum of Art.

“We try not to be nitpicky, try not to belike a regulatory agency. But that is our job,and lots of things could go wrong if we don’tdo our job,” says Robert Zerr, theUniversity’s risk management and safetydirector.

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Public lecture forfamily caregivers

Our friends at the WaltherCancer Institute are sponsoring thefifth annual Supportive andPalliative Care Conference laterthis month. While the generalconference is for health careprofessionals, Walther director Dr.Rudy Navari encourages membersof the University to attend thekeynote address April 15. MyraGlajchen of Beth Israel MedicalCenter in New York will discussthe emotional, physical andmental needs of family caregivers.Her address, titled “The Vital Roleof Caregivers in Healthcare,” willtake place at 7 p.m. in McKennaHall. “I believe the entire NotreDame community will beinterested in this subject,” Navarinotes.

Experiencing HolyWeek

On Palm Sunday, April 4, a9:45 a.m. Mass and outdoorprocession will be led by Rev.Edward Malloy, C.S.C., followedby a similar event at noon led byRev. Peter Rocca, C.S.C. Bothleave from Bond Hall. Thefollowing Tuesday, meet at 7 p.m.at the Grotto for the student-ledStations of the Cross around thelake. It’s probably best to arriveearly for all events—the Basilica

office expects Masses to be full allweek. The full liturgy schedule isavailable atwww.nd.edu/~bshweb/.

Boost your emotionalIQ

The secret of true success?Emotional intelligence—acombination of self-awareness,altruism, personal motivation,empathy, and the ability to loveand be loved. That’s according topsychologist Daniel Goleman,author of “Emotional Intelligence”and “Primal Leadership” and oneof three keynote speakers duringJourney of Excellence, aleadership conference sponsoredby Human Resource’sProfessional Developmentdivision on June 2-3 at McKennaHall Auditorium. The conferencewill offer networkingopportunities, a product andservice expo, and more than twodozen sessions on Leadership,Spirit and Work, Legal Issues andEthics, and Communication andthe Media. Cost is $249 beforeApril 16; $299 before May 19.

If your quest for excellencekeeps you closer to your desk, tryone of HR’s other April events:Organize Your Office (April 13),Strategic Planning (April 16), orUnderstanding the DifferenceBetween Depression and the Blueswebinar (April 27). Visithttp://iLEARN.nd.edu for a fulllist of offerings; register online orat 631-5777.

Women’s golf leaguetees off

League officers Shelly

FROM THE ARCHIVES

University leaders and supporters gather to see an essential piece of the Word of Life muralput in place. The head of Christ is 9 feet tall and made of 115 different pieces of stone. Thelibrary was dedicated May 7, 1964. Photo provided by Charles Lamb, University Archives.

Goethals, Pat Karpinski and BeckyPenn invite prospective andreturning members to an informalkickoff event for the Notre DameWomen’s Golf League at 5 p.m.April 27 at the Warren GolfCourse. The evening will featurewedge shot tips from coursepersonnel and a brief meeting withrefreshments in the clubhouse.Though not a highly competitiveleague, new members should havesome golf experience. The leagueplays on the Notre Dame 9-HoleGolf Course beginning May 11,with an end-of-year tournamentand awards banquet Aug. 17 atWarren Golf Course. Dues are$15. Contact Shelly(Goethals.3@nd.edu; 271-8370) orBecky (631-5552) for applications.

Counseling Centerlaunches Warm Line

When students experiencepersonal problems, staff andfaculty members are often the firstto take notice. That’s why theUniversity Counseling Center hasintroduced Warm Line, a non-emergency line staffed bytherapists who can advise you onhow to help students seekcounseling for psychologicalissues ranging from adjustment tocollege life to severe traumaticevents and emotional problems.The service is offered to encouragefaculty and staff to consult withcounselors before emergenciesarise. Just call the UniversityCounseling Center at 631-7336and ask for the Warm Line. Theservice is available 9 a.m. to 5p.m. Monday through Friday; it’sclosed on staff holidays.

Grounds crewcontinued from page 1

pleasing playing surface we can,” Brazo says. “I look at us likeI look at the officials. You know you’ve done your job wellwhen people really don’t notice you.”

Obviously, the scrutiny can get intense during footballseason, when a full stadium and a national TV audience willwatch every odd bounce or turned ankle, looking for someone toblame.

Brazo claims his biggest worry is the weather.

“We can have the field looking perfect before that first gameof the year,” he says. “But if it starts raining, you still might endup with a mud hole. I’ve had a lot of nights when I wake up at 2in the morning. I’m wondering if it’s snowing or raining and ifwe got all the tarps down.”

And then there are those other surprises, like the night duringcoach Lou Holtz’s final season when someone broke into thestadium and painted “WE LOVE YOU LOU” on the field in bigwhite letters. It took some quick work to clip some of the white-painted grass and cover the rest with green paint.

At times like those, Brazo says he’s fortunate to be workingwith an athletic staff that respects his crews.

“I have some of the best coaches in the country to workwith,” he says. “Sometimes they’ll come to us with a specialrequest, something they saw at another facility. We’re alwaysopen to new ideas.”

A native of Niles, Mich., Brazo has a doctorate fromMichigan State University in biology, where he focused onfishery biology. He landed his present job through friendshipwith his predecessor, Dale Getz. Two of his three daughters havedegrees from Notre Dame and the third is an MSU graduate.

In his free time, he does some softball umpiring and fishesthe Great Lakes, chasing walleyes in the summer and perch inthe fall. And, without apology, he ignores his lawn.

Two newinformation Websites launched

Two new Web sites have been launched to aid communicationsefforts with news media professionals, the campus community, alumniand the general public.

A redesigned site for the Office of News and Information is linkedfrom the front page of the Notre Dame homepage and can be found athttp://newsinfo.nd.edu. The site offers access to news releases, featurestories, Notre Dame campus publications, faculty experts, a calendar ofdaily events, and recent news stories regarding the University, plusbackground information such as biographies of University officials,notable facts and statistics, campus history, notable alumni, campus mapsand contact information for the News and Information staff.

The other is the online home of the Public Affairs andCommunication division, of which News and Information is a part. Thedivision site can be found at http://opac.nd.edu. The Public Affairs andCommunication site provides a guide to the services available toUniversity administrators, faculty and staff, including marketing, publicrelations, media consultations, graphic design, Web content, andcommunity relations.

“We believe these state-of-the-art Web sites will greatly enhance ourability to tell Notre Dame’s story to a wider, more diverse viewing publicand will help our campus constituencies understand the ways in whichwe can help them do the same,” said J. Roberto Gutierrez, vice presidentfor the division. The new sites were designed by Cyberworks MediaGroup of Chicago, a firm with an international client base.

“We chose Cyberworks because we believed they could produceelegant technological solutions,” Gutierrez said. “It also was important tous that its staff is ethnically diverse and has global experience. That’sconsistent with the face we want to present on our Web sites.”

BACK STORY

MARCH MADNESS– Joyce style

By Gail Hinchion ManciniFrustrated that the NCAA tournament never seemed

the same after early losses by Kentucky and Gonzagablew your brackets? That could be diagnosed as a mildcase of March Madness.

At the Joyce Center, March Madness isn’t a state of mind or amanifestation of zeal. It’s backbreaking work and split-secondtiming.

The wait between the men’s basketball team’s first-round NITwin on campus and the second game in Fort Wayne March 22 mayhave been tense for players, coaches and fans. But Tom Blicher,operations manager of the Joyce Athletic and Convocation Center,and his staff had pacing rights, too.

A win in Fort Wayne meant the NIT tournament would return tothe Joyce at exactly the point when Blicher’s crew had beenplanning to transform the facility into the setting of the local carshow, the Cavalcade of Wheels. On March 22 the facts were: Set upfor the car show beginning Thursday; plan to set up for the NITtournament—also Thursday.

To complicate matters, but in a delightful way, Dave Poulin’shockey team won its first NCAA tournament bid. Had it not, the icewould have come down for the car show. Since the team turned outto be tournament-bound and needed the ice for practice, Blicherarranged to have it carefully covered. Still, the bleachers and boardshad to come down.

None of this considers that thesame crew already had beenchallenged by the demands of thewomen’s NCAA first-roundtournament games March 21 and23, which required setup forcompetition, practice, and a seriesof press conferences for four teams,as well as accommodations for anESPN truck. There’s no wonder,Blicher points out, that hiscrew–Cliff Payne, Chris Horwath,Olay Malaythong, Bob Momotiuk,Anita Garner and Joel Peffley–wonlast year’s annual President’sAward.

As of today, all that is just amemory. The crew is getting readyfor this weekend’s home show, sothey probably don’t even have timeto look at these pictures.

Blicher’s team members are theprime movers, but hosting regionalbasketball tournaments requiresnumerous movers and shakers. Thetournaments engaged a vast numberof the Joyce Center and AthleticDepartment staff in a wide varietyof roles.

Photos by Matt Cashore

The Bengal Bouts end, an NCAA tournament begins, NIT play iscoming: It's all in a day's work for, from top left, first aid worker GaryFields; custodian Joel Bickel of the Cleaning Irish; usher JanCrawford, who does a security check on the gear of MiddleTennessee players; and Chris Horwarth, left, and Joel Peffley, whoremove seating from the Bengal Bouts. Sound and light technicianColleen Clark gets to see a little NCAA action from her booth; ticket-seller Jenny Borg sees hopeful fans, not action. In an instant, it's onto the next event, as Tom Blicher demonstrates by pulling awayevidence of the NCAA tournament.