THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING NOTRE DAME AND SAINT MARY ' S Newly revised University rules restrict food , drink in library

A University task force was in­ volved in developing a revised food and drink policy for the U n iv e r s i ty ’s l i b r a r i e s th is summer. A ccord ing to Sonja J o rd a n , assistant librarian and head of the task force, the policy, which prohibits food and drink in a r ­ eas of the library other than the pit, has always existed; the task fo rc e ’s aim w as to develop a means of enforcing the policy. “The policy has been around s ince the 8 0 s ,” sa id J o rd a n , “but it was never enforced be­ cause we really didn’t have any problems until the last couple of years.” The p ro b lem s , a c co rd in g to Jo rd a n , have been lim ited to isolated incidents, but n e v e r ­ theless have caused a threat to the University’s library collec­ tions. She added th a t the in ­ c reased use of the l ib ra ry by both graduate and undergrad­ uate students, although a posi­ tive change , has also lead to complaints from students that, due to eating and socializing, th e l ib ra ry h a s becom e less co n d u c iv e to s tu d y in g , an d books a rc being d a m a g e d or destroyed. According to Jordan, as well as a flyer published by the Uni­ versity Libraries, “in order to reduce avoidable m aintenance p rob lem s , to he lp in su re the proper preservation of library m ater ia ls , and to p revent the disruption of the study and re ­ search functions of the Univer­ sity L ib ra r ie s , the Food and D rink Policy is s t r ic t ly e n ­ forced.” Jordan said along with the fly­ ers, the library has posted signs to remind library users that no food or drink is allowed. “There will be some who will say ‘Oh fine, this will res to re order and peace to the library,’” said Jo rdan , “and others who will see it as a p e r s o n a l inconven ience . We’re hoping m ost will see it as a ra t io n a l decision and say ‘O.K.’” The rationality in the decision, according to Jordan, lies in the fact that along with an effort to conserve our natural resources, we sh o u ld a lso m a k e a concerted effort to preserve our intellectual heritage. “If we don’t protect our collec­ tions now, someone will have to pay for it down the line,” said Jordan. But the process of developing the revised food and drink pol­ icy w a s n o t an ea sy one . F o l lo w in g an in i t ia l m is u n d e r s t a n d in g b e tw e e n Bong M iq u ia b a s , a s tu d e n t s e n a to r , a n d th e ta sk fo rce , student input became a part of the final policy. Last spring, when Miquiabas learned that his position on the task force was to aid in the im­ plementation and not the for­ mulation of the policy, he with­ d rew his nam e from the task force in protest. A cco rd ing to Molly O’Neill, s tu d e n t body vice p re s id e n t , Miquiabas and herself were in­ vited back on the task force to work out a fair and consistent policy. Following several m eet­ ings this summer, the task force c o m p le te d a re v is io n of the existing policy which included th e in p u t of O’Neill and Miquiabas. “We decided that it was in the students’ best interest to have a policy t h a t p ro te c te d th e l i ­ b r a r y ’s c o l le c t io n s ,” O’Neill sa id . But she a d d e d th a t , although the eating and drink­ ing of candy and sodas can go on in the library without dam ­ aging any of the collections, a problem of defining appropriate foods a n d e n fo rc in g the prohibition of those foods in the library would arise unless a line was drawn at no food at all. One c h a n g e in th e policy O’Neill and Miquiabas success­ fully bargained for was a con­ sistent policy—one that applied to un d erg rad u a tes , g radua tes and faculty alike. Initially, ac ­ cord ing to O’Neill, the policy would have allowed g radua te students to eat in their carols. The Observer/ Pat McHugh Flipping burgers