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Show 2 Signpost Friday, November 7, 1986 Library improves while funds diminish Editor's Note: This is the concluding article in a series on the library. Terry Allen Staff Reporter In the midst of the current three percent budget cut being faced by the Stewart Library, the staff has plans to further improve the services available for the students. Nearly all of the library's budget comes from state allocation. With the current monetary problems facing the state, library administrators are finding themselves with a dilemma. "Library's are built over decades," said Craige S. Hall, director of Information Services. Hall has been with the college for a number of years and has seen many improvements made. "In the 18 years I've been here: at the library, we have grown from a sub-par library to above average. We have made strides in improving our collection of materials and we are providing greater service, but we are not quite where we would like to be." Hall's reason for this problem is the inconsistent funds made available from the state legislature. "Our budget level has not been high enough to keep our growtn rate consistent, said Hail. Last year the student surcharge for the library ,-,) A . . : -1 , TT-11 -' i ncipcu uicni auutK up uii viuiuus uuucuais. ndu saiu the problem with building a library in this fashion is that there will be periods of time that are not evenly covered. Currently the library is finishing the relocation of materials in a more centralized fashion. This relocation was the result of the strategic planning process last February. Funds for the relocation were taken from the library's regular budget. Hall said, the monetary loss will make things difficult toward the end of the year. However he feels it is important in the long run to better serve students' needs. New additions to the reference area of the library are public access terminals which can provide quick access to resource material. Another improvement currently in the planning stages is a new circulation system. This system, which will most likely be implemented before the end of this fiscal year and will effect the efficiency of the library in three ways. One of these implications is a quicker method of checking out materials. The current method of check out (computer card feed) takes a few minutes, said Hall. This proposal could cut most of this time out. The new system will also allow the current circulation policy to be extended. Students will be able to check out books for three weeks as opposed to the current two week limit. "By inacting this, we will stiffen fines for late books," said Hall. Another advantage to the new system will be the ability of students to get a print-out of a bibliography pertaining to a certain subject, overnight. For Your Information According to L. Winslow Hurst, director of admissions, the "For Your Information" article which was published in the Signpost last Tuesday gave the wrong impression that course prereqisites have been eliminated. Prerequisites are still in effect and are listed in the Winter Quarter 1987 class schedule. In a memo to the Signpost Hurst said that "students should pay careful attention to pre-requisite requirements when selecting courses." r jh x I . : . J I j j j I j j j j j jjj SIGNS ALONG INTERSTATE 15 Hn not rfn...i Hi. P'e to Weber State College, according to Jonathan Wright, ASWSC president. On Tuesday he asked the Institutional Council j mm ,'IIIM P tTTTTTTnTrHtf f ' 5 ! I i : ; I to endorse an ASWSC senate resolution calling for the placement Of Weber State College road Signs along the freeway. Signpost photo: Jeff Bybee) Alzheimer's disease said to be the worst A disease that has no cure, no known cause and leaves what looks like tangled fish-line in the brain, is not a science fiction sickness. It is something that affects over two million people a year, and from which no one has survived. Alzheimer's disease, or the death of the personality, is now the fourth leading cause of death in the over 65 age group. In 1984 some $30 billion was spent to care for victims. At the present rate, if Alzheimer's disease is not checked, it will financially break the United States by the year 2020, said Louise Lintz, a Weber State College associate professor in the WSC Center on Aging. "Something is going to get you eventually, but to me that's the worst one; to watch someone vegetate," Lintz said. Alzheimer's disease is a disorder in the nervous system, essentially centered in the brain, she said. The disease first erases a person's short- term memory, then the long-term memory goes and finally the person dies. "Many die of pneumonia because the brain does not give the command to the lungs to cough," she said. The dementia spans all social and economic groups, and has no sex preference. Genetics plays a part, as those with a family history of the disease are more likely to contract the malady, but people with no ancestral occurence of Alzheimer's can also develop the ailment, Lintz said. "This is not normal aging ... There is a pathological disease Effects of the disease are about the only "known" with Alzheimer's, she said. "In the first stage, the person has less sparkle and less energy, and they are more likely to forget," she said. This stage is also characterized by a loss of words . and a quicker temper. "In the second stage the person cannot do simple addition and subtraction, and that's when other people first start to get concerned. They also start wandering in the second stage," she said. (see ALZHEIMER'S on page 6) present. Louise Lintz At one time some scientists thought the excessive amounts of aluminum found in the brain indicated that metal build-up in the body was the cause. Now, most agree that the aluminum is a by-product of the disease, not the cause, she said. "Some have thought that Alzheimer's is a slow influenza-type virus. You have it all your life, and then it finally develops. Another theory says the immune system breaks down. But all scientists say right now is that the cause is completely unknown," Lintz said. 05 l i- tzj Iffl ? g -3. H 1 : c4 O l y J |