A: One of the functions of the university is to take you from the farm and prepare you for your new life in Austin, Boston, or Boise. And, one of the lessons you need to learn is that in the real world no one but drug dealers uses public phones. You need to get with the program, and pocket your new cellular phone! Think of how impressed your professors will be when you take business calls during class! You'll immediately be recognized as a future executive, and by showing your respect for individual responsibility (rather than whining for socialized phones) you'll be on the Republicans' short list the next time they need a candidate.

A: The swastika is an ancient cosmic symbol whose name comes from the Sanskrit svastika, a sign of good luck. Sit in the carrels before finals and have some rub off.

A: Thanks--we told them.

A: Nineteenth-century visitors to the United States often commented on the prevalence of chewing tobacco: constant spitting, floors slippery with tobacco juice, etc. Public health authorities held spitting responsible for the spread of TB and other contagious diseases. Their solution was to encourage cigarette smoking, and by the 1920's chewing and spitting were confined to rural backwaters.

What we need to ask is does the local habit survive here in sort of a time warp, or is it practiced by fugitives from lung cancer who are too macho to take to the nicotine patch?

And, if you wanted to stamp it out, how would you enforce the rule? Scan for the tell-tale round can in the hip pocket? Mandatory oral exams? Drinking fountains that spit back?

A: There's a fountain on every floor, right between the restrooms. Just a coincidence--think nothing of it. Enjoy your ..er.. water.

A: Thanks. By the way, you dropped this in on April 15th. Weren't you cutting it a little fine?

A: The wall screens some of the ugly machinery that makes the library function: electrical transformers and the emergency generator. As you can see, it then continues as a colonnade around two sides of the building, which serves to tie the old and new building visually together, and serves as a sun shade for the second floor windows.

Shortly after it was built, it began to settle, because a large section of fill dirt had been missed in the original soil surveys. A local contracting firm was hired to excavate under the wall, and pour a concrete pier to hold it up. They poured it in the wrong place. Although they weren't paid for this mistake, the cost of removing the pier and replacing it exceeds the amount of money we have. We're thinking of planting ivy to cover the crack. Or, maybe we could get Professor David Giese to include it in his Excavations at the Villa Bitricci (http://www.uidaho.edu/vb/)

A. WHAT'S THAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU -- LET ME TURN THE MUSIC DOWN!
Ok, we'll pass the word along.

A. We sent it to Alfonse D'Amato. We hear he wanted to "frame" it.

A. If we had a large Japanese language program, or an active Asian Studies center, we'd probably consider it. But, we don't, so it's unlikely that we would subscribe, particularly considering that at the current exchange rate Japanese newspapers are twice as expensive as the most costly U.S. papers.

A. Our lounge is open all night, every night. The problem we have with extended hours for finals is that our late-night employees are all students, and they want to study, not work.

As for your second suggestion, I'm pleased to report that the question is beyond my responsibilities. I will forward it to the proper authorities (Whew!).

A. Unfortunately, Reed-Elsevier, the owner of Lexis-Nexis doesn't give us that option. Our contract limits access to "faculty and students of the University of Idaho for use in teaching classes". It may not be used to support faculty research or by the University Administration.

Lexis-Nexis does offer direct services to non-subscribers that can be billed to your credit card. Call (800) 843-6476 for Business/Financial information (Nexis) or (800) 732-5305 for legal information (Lexis).

A. No, it's checked out. You can see for yourself on Ida: when you get the "screen of seven" in the catalog, go one step further. Type the number of the item you want, and hit "Enter". You'll get the full catalog record for the book as well as its current circulation status.

Right now you'll have to ask the circulation Desk to put a "hold" on a item that's out. When it's returned, we "hold" it for you at the desk and send you a notice. By the end of the Summer, you'll be able to place the hold yourself, right from the terminal.

If the book isn't shown as checked out, and it's not on the shelf, you can ask for a "search" at the desk. We'll try to find it, and notify you when we do.

A. Our policy on international newspapers is that they're purchased primarily to support the teaching requirements of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. These languages are French, German, and Spanish. The cross-listed language courses taught at WSU are supported at the WSU Libraries. Our other international papers are all gifts.

We had purchased Pravda at the request of a faculty member during the upheaval in the former Soviet Union. As of now, the Soviet Union is no more, and Pravda has ceased publication. We don't plan to replace it.

We wish we could provide additional "home-town" reading for our International Students, but since we have students from 48 different countries, the cost would be prohibitive. However, if you'll go to the Library's World Wide Web page on the Internet and look at the Periodical Service Center, you'll find that we've linked to electronic versions of newspapers from many different countries. Click and read!