In August of 2006, Lisa Burke and Dan Gjelten were involved in a serious automobile accident in Portland, Oregon a few days before they were supposed to run the Hood to Coast relay race with a team of faculty, staff and alumni runners from the University of St. Thomas.
At the time, as they began a long period of active recovery from injuries, they received a generous monetary gift collected by their colleagues in IRT. Since the accident expenses were largely covered by insurance, they decided to donate that gift to the UST Libraries in honor of their colleagues and acquired a collection of books on health and healing, which are now in the O’Shaughnessy Frey Library. Each book in the collection includes a bookplate reading:
“The heart of St. Thomas is never more evident than in a crisis. This book is a gift from Lisa Burke and Dan Gjelten, with gratitude to our colleagues in the university’s Information Resources and Technologies Division.”
The books focus on all aspects of healing, from the medical to the spiritual, and many of these titles were helpful to Dan and Lisa as they struggled with broken bones and the loss of their normal level of activity, and perhaps most importantly, the emotional aspects of their experience. The collection is intended to provide similar support to all who must work through the normal and abnormal challenges of life with its inevitable pain and loss and towards health, wholeness and hope.

The Wellness Center, in partnership with the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library, has placed a light box (Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) lamp) in the library as a resource for students, staff, and faculty.
The lamp is located in the northwest corner of the reference room on the first floor of the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library. Students and staff are welcome to use the lamp on a walk-in basis. Before using the SAD lamp, you are asked to read the information on the Mayo Clinic Web site regarding use of this therapy.
SAD is often called the “winter blues.” During the low-light months of winter, many individuals experience decreased energy. The combination of decreased sunlight and spending significant time in dimly lit offices or classrooms can have a negative impact on one’s mood and sense of well-being. The light-therapy box may assist some individuals in achieving a happier mood and increased energy.
It is recommended that you use the lamp for a period of 20 to 30 minutes each day, preferably first thing in the morning. You should be seated at a distance of 13 inches from the lamp, and it should be placed directly in front of you. You do not need to look directly at the light, although it is not harmful to glance up at it periodically.
Please note that some medications, such a lithium, melatonin, tetracycline, St. John’s Wort, phenothiazines, hematoporphyrins, acme creams, creams with retinoic acid and chloroquine, can make you very sensitive to light.

The Wellness Center, in partnership with the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library, has placed a light box (Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) lamp) in the library as a resource for students, staff, and faculty.
The lamp is located in the northwest corner of the reference room on the first floor of the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library. Students and staff are welcome to use the lamp on a walk-in basis. Before using the SAD lamp, you are asked to read the information on the Mayo Clinic Web site regarding use of this therapy.
SAD is often called the “winter blues.” During the low-light months of winter, many individuals experience decreased energy. The combination of decreased sunlight and spending significant time in dimly lit offices or classrooms can have a negative impact on one’s mood and sense of well-being. The light-therapy box may assist some individuals in achieving a happier mood and increased energy.
It is recommended that you use the lamp for a period of 20 to 30 minutes each day, preferably first thing in the morning. You should be seated at a distance of 13 inches from the lamp, and it should be placed directly in front of you. You do not need to look directly at the light, although it is not harmful to glance up at it periodically.
Please note that some medications, such a lithium, melatonin, tetracycline, St. John’s Wort, phenothiazines, hematoporphyrins, acme creams, creams with retinoic acid and chloroquine, can make you very sensitive to light.

Beginning in spring, 2009, UST Libraries is planning to implement a recall option for library materials. What this means is that when you have checked out a book and have had it out for at least two weeks, if it is needed by another patron, you will receive a notice from the library asking that you return the book within 7 days.
Recalls will be available to current St. Thomas students, faculty and staff to more efficiently share library resources and to ensure fair use of library materials among all patrons. This does not mean that the library will never purchase a second copy of a book or use interlibrary loan, but the recall option is intended to get UST-owned items to more patrons as quickly as possible. Many college and university libraries currently offer a recall option to allow better access to library materials. It is not anticipated that this will happen very often, but it may be very helpful to those who do need this option.
UST library patrons will be assured of at least two weeks’ time before a recall would require them to return an item. Patrons receiving a recall notice will be allowed one week from the time of the notice to return recalled items to the library. You also will be able to place a hold on the item and be the next in line to recall it.
Only current St. Thomas faculty, staff and students will be allowed to place recalls on UST library materials. Patrons from other CLIC schools, alumni and friends of the library will not have the recall option for UST materials.
Watch for more informational articles (here and in Bulletin Today) about the recall option before it becomes effective next spring.

The French section invites the UST community to join it tonight for the fifth and final film of the tournees Festival, “Le Voyage du ballon rouge” (Flight of the red balloon.) The film will be shown at 7pm Monday, Nov 3, in the O’Shaughnessy Educational Center auditorium on the university’s St. Paul campus. The film, subtitled in English, is free and open to the public. A reception will follow the showing. More details are found in today’s Bulletin Today article.