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This website is an informal communication forum for staff members of the University of Oregon Library Staff Association. Contents and opinions expressed herein or on linked personal or external pages are those of individual authors and do not represent official statements, policies, or positions of the Library, the University of Oregon, Oregon University System, or State of Oregon.

Note: last week for me was one of those hard weeks in which at the end of the week your brain is so tired you find yourself sitting on the edge of the bed staring at your sock in your hand trying to recall what to do with it. You all are just going to have to put up with a meandering sort of essay.

A couple of weeks ago I saw on the news how Indiana U had finally gone ahead and fired basketball coach Bobby Knight for his antics, tantrums, and assorted abusive behavior. Myles Brand, the IU president who did the firing, and his wife Peg, a philosophy professor, received many threats that week, and Peg eventually had to have a security presence posted in her classroom in that week. You may be aware that prior to his post at IU, Myles Brand was the UO president for a few years right around 1990. I took a class from Peg, a class listed under humanities, on "Heroes."

So I was recalling that class and thinking anew about what it means to be a hero. I remember the class struggling to note exactly what makes a hero, and to come up with ones we all agreed on. We were pretty well sure Mother Teresa was one, and Martin Luther King Jr. Some people listed a variety of sports heroes, such as Michael Jordan or Joe Montana (debate followed: does simply being a gifted athlete make one a hero? Or just a role model? And what exactly is the difference, anyway?), or such as Jackie Robinson (many felt this was an easier case, since as the first black athlete in the major leagues, he had to be better than the best to sway the opinions of the intolerant, and tolerate a lot of abuse to boot). Some listed John F. Kennedy as a hero, while others argued that his purported connections to organized crime made him non-heroic. The listing went on as we tried to define the qualities of the hero. We concluded, I think, that there are different kinds of heroes: ones who save lives, ones who lead, ones who are role models for children and adults, and ones who make us feel good about the world. Some heroes do all of these things; in my opinion, athlete-heroes tend to be of the role-model/feel-good type of heroes.

All of this was on my mind, more or less, as the season turned to that highest event of "amateur" athletics, the Olympics. If you think sports is a place to find heroes, then surely here you could find many. And you could. But then the coverage repeatedly turned to drugs, and I got to thinking how sad it is that in the quest to be the best and then to be the hero, some athletes turn to actions they know are A) detrimental to their bodies, and B) ridiculously likely to be detected, but then, I also got to thinking how sad it is that we spend such energy in hero-busting. A Romanian gymnast was stripped of her gold medal for having pseudoephedrine in her bloodstream. For one thing, I'm pretty sure I have that or an equally illegal analog thereof in my bloodstream about 2/3 of the time; it's in a supplement I sometimes take in an attempt to keep my asthmatic, allergic airways open and useful, as well as in just about every cold medicine known to man, including many herbal remedies. Yeah, it can improve athletic performance, as it does work in a manner similar to adrenaline, but not in the same way that some of the serious drugs do-I realize the line has to be drawn somewhere, but it seems a bit odd to draw it on that side of a substance commonly given to children. And what kind of choice is that to give an athlete at the biggest meet of her life: either break the drug rules (and, note, this particular substance is legal in international gymnastics competition, but not in Olympic competition), or attempt to go flying 20 feet through the air under her own power while unable to breathe due to a mild cold. Why is the treatment of a cold something for which it seems appropriate to subject an athlete (in this case a tiny 16-year-old athlete) to international humiliation? After all, the headline didn't say, "Cold medicine makes athlete ineligible." It said things like, "Romanian stripped of medal for DRUGS!" There has not been any question that it was a cold medicine that caused the positive test.

And then there was Marion Jones. Despite having no particular evidence that she herself was engaging in any drug activity, the hero-busters still made a pretty good run at messing up her Games by choosing their moment to announce they had found that her husband, shot putter CJ Hunter, who was not competing in the Olympics, had tested positive for a steroid. Is this news? Well, maybe, but given the reported testing had happened a couple of months prior, it's hard to see what the harm would have been in waiting until Marion was done competing (a matter of less than a week). She was trying for an unprecedented 5 gold medals, and this announcement came on the heels of the first event, which she did win. In the end, she won three gold and 2 bronze medals, an outcome that only seems disappointing when compared to the goal of five golds. But then I went back to thinking about heroes, and I concluded that for me, it wasn't Marion Jones' speed or jumping ability (the gifted athleticism) that made a hero. It was that she stayed the course, focused on the goal, played her game, and made no excuses. It would have been the easiest thing in the world to tell us, after the first bronze, that she was distracted. Of course she was, we know that. But, she had no angry words, not about the timing, not about the issue, and not to the reporters who were asking.

Yes, in this Games, I found some heroes. I also found myself dismayed by the hero-busting. It didn't make me feel good about the world. It made me wonder about the motives of the keepers of propriety. It is hard for me to see how these two examples of catching drug-users made this a better Games. It certainly didn't make the events fairer-if we were worried about fair in the women's gymnastics all-around, we likely would have started the meet over upon learning the vault was set at the wrong height, since two favorites fell as a result and then struggled the rest of the night. And I'm not sure how I'd have explained this to my kids, had they noticed (any of you who have heard the stories of my eight-year-old know that him noticing and commenting on this sort of thing would not be out of character at all). I can explain why doping and steroids are bad. I can explain why medals were stripped from, for example, the weight-lifter who did test positive for a steroid. I'm not so sure I can explain why it is fine in everyday life to take a breathing-reliever for a cold, but not if you are about to go participate in a sport-it was hard enough, at least with my kid, to make sense of the laws and conventions regarding the distinction between for instance alcohol and tobacco use and how and why these specific drugs have made their way into social acceptance while other drugs are illegal and maybe immoral or an indication of poor breeding. With my kid, this was a multi-day conversation that continues to erupt from time to time.

You are perhaps wondering if I have a conclusion from all of this. I do. Really. I want there to be heroes and role models for kids. I want behavior that is not worthy of heroes and role models to be detected and publicly decried. I don't want to see kids emulating Bobby Knight himself, and I don't want them to think they should do frightening things to their bodies in the quest for perfection (be that steroids or starving themselves). But I also don't want them to think that if they want someone besides Marion to win, they should resort to distracting her, and I don't want to further confuse the already complex drug issue with the ridiculous assertion that reasonable cold relief is something heroes and role models don't do. Healthy life choices are primarily about balance and good sense. Neither of these cases fit the bill.

--Lara N.

Library Staff Honors Departing Employees
by Julie Palmer

Departing library employees were honored at LSA's Autumn
Retirement Tea Social on the afternoon of Monday, September 11. The
tea honored George Shipman, University Librarian (20 years); Richard
Heinzkill, Humanties Reference Librarian (33 years); Linda Ivy,
Microcomputer Support Technician (4.5 years); and Michael Montague
Science Library ILL clerk (1 year).

LSA did a marvelous job in preparing for the Autumn Retirement
Tea. Each table donned beautiful flowers, a white tablecloth, and
green napkins. Three gorgeous cakes (chocolate, white/lemon, carrot)
and a selection of beverages graced the serving table.

LSA's Chelle Batchelor presented all retiring employees with
certificates of honor.

Richard Heinzkill also received a signed, framed broadside of a
Gary Snyder poem. Linda received a chocolate tie and cowboy boots in
honor of fixing George's computer.

After departing...

George Shipman hopes to fish in New Zealand, spruce up his golf game, visit more of Oregon, and see the maritime provinces of Canada.

Richard Heinzkill will work as a temporary reference librarian; volunteer his time working on the popular sheet music database; help out in the South Eugene High School library; and also enjoy gardening, reading, and hiking.

Linda Ivy will pursue a Ph.D in psychology at the Univeristy of Oregon.

Michael Montague already has a new job as Oregon Research Institute's ILL clerk.

Scroll down for more pictures of the Autumn Retirement Tea!!

Michael Montague and Diane Sotak

Rose Thomas, Raina Smith, and Linda Hodgin enjoying their cake

Heather Ward and Juanita Benedicto

Richard Heinzkill socializing

George Shipman and Lisa Sieracki

Colleen Bell

FROM THE FACT FILE: ANNOUNCING THE WINNERS

Expert Ornithologists

(You may review the clues in the September Fact File.)
The answers:

1. Florence Nightingale
2. Dan Quayle
3. John Jay
4. Ethan Hawke
5. Rita Dove
6. Peter Finch
7. Christopher Wren
8. Jonathan Swift
9. Rebecca Pidgeon
10.Sheryl Crow

Watch the November issue of the LSA Newsletter for another contest From the Fact File.

"I have an excellent imagination." She was pouring him Pepper and Jack.

Without acknowledging her, he took the drink from the kitchen table. He wore a black sportscoat with deep pockets. Earlier, she had offered to hang it in the closet because it was summer. Now he shook his head slowly and squinted. "You just imagined it, Lucy?" he said.

"Of course." She smiled proudly and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm a writer."

The yellow-haired man sucked his Pepper and Jack methodically. "Were you a writer back then?"

She finished mixing her own drink and sat down across from him. Her eyes closed for a few seconds before she spoke. "I've always been a writer." She locked her eyes to his. "I was just waiting for the right tale." Her sentence ended with a flirtatious lilt, and she tinked her swizzle stick around in her glass.

He frowned. "You never mentioned you were a writer."

Are you curious about what happens next? So am I...and so are the characters.

Submit the next part of the story for November's newsletter. The editor will post one submission for next month's Pass-the-Story adventure. Additional submissions may also be posted for entertainment value.

Ideal length is < 500 words.

In the spirit of the Olympics, let the creativity begin!

Linda Ivy and her many friends and coworkers celebrated her last day at the Library with a party in Systems on September 15. We all enjoyed the purple and gold décor (her favorite colors), the delicious cake and punch, and writing our farewell messages on her gigantic card.

Linda did a great job fixing all of our computers and maintaining our staff file and print server (Jeeves) for the last four and a half years, with "I hate computers!" as her mantra the entire time. Working 35 hours of overtime during her last two weeks as we were moving from our Novell file server to a new Windows 2000 server didn't seem to dampen her cheerfulness a bit. She even gave away dozens of her signature origami balls to all comers. Watch for them around the Library and know that parts of Linda will remain with us for years to come.

Linda has traded in her tech support wings to join the PhD program in Clinical Psychology at the UO. Here she models the tie she received from George Shipman at the Autumn Tea in honor of her new, more professional status:

Stay in touch and follow Linda's progress via her web page. Good bye, Linda!!

Been to an interesting conference? Send us a brief report for publication in the next newsletter. Thanks!

The Library Diversity Advisory Group (LDAG) needs you! Every January four new members are appointed from a pool of nominations (people can nominate themselves or a staff member) to serve on LDAG. The deadline for nominations is November 10th and they can be submitted to Deborah Carver or Diane Sotak.

Want to know more about what we are doing? LDAG members have been working hard to:

• organize diversity-related events for library staff and in some cases, the wider campus community.

  You may remember our past events such as "The Blues: From Mississippi to Chicago" lecture, Museum of Natural History Open House last November, Museum of Art Tour, and the recent Cross-Cultural Differences workshop.

• make a contribution to University diversity efforts.

  We have created a Multicultural Resource Guide to the University of Oregon and the Eugene-Springfield Community. While this does exist online, we continue to pursue funding sources to produce a paper version. Our hope is that the University will use of it for recruitment and retention purposes.

  We are also making more connections with other groups and individuals on campus. This will help us stay apprised of diversity discussions on campus and may reveal other ways that the Library can contribute to diversity efforts.

• advise Library administration.

  LDAG can do some legwork and investigation to help inform the administration on various issues. Thus far our focus has been on staff diversity and looking at other approaches to increasing staff diversity, such as residency programs for new librarians.

We hope you will consider volunteering for LDAG. New members bring new perspectives and can help shape future directions of LDAG. Plus it is a good way to gain committee experience!

A final note, for those of you that were not able to attend September's Cross Cultural Differences workshop with Magid Shirzadegan, an in-depth summary will appear in the next LSA News.

Dotti Clegg accepted a Library Tech 2 position in Preservation and Binding effective September 13. Dotti came to us from Public Safety. You may remember her from when she worked in the library before, in the Circulation Department, 1990-1991.

Daniel Bissell has been hired as a Library Technician 2, Newspaper Reformatting Technician effective September 19. Daniel worked for the library as a student before landing a permanent position here.

Fitness Corner

Staff profiles:

Alissa Manske, Media Services