my $singleton;
sub new {
  return $singleton if $singleton;  # bypass setup if already done

  my $class = shift;
  my %args = @_;

  croak "No program name given to constructor. 
            ( program => 'foo' required )"
    unless exists $args{program};

  my $pname = $args{program};

  my $dbh = Alex::DBI->new;
  my ( $pid ) = $dbh->selectrow_array( "SELECT id FROM Log_Programs 
                                        WHERE name = '$pname'" );

  croak "Program $pname not in database" unless $pid;

  $singleton = bless( { dbh => $dbh }, $class );
  my $levels = $dbh->selectall_arrayref( "SELECT id, name 
                                          FROM Log_Levels" 

  foreach my $lev( @$levels ) {
    no strict 'refs';
    *{'Alex::Log::' . $lev->[1]} = sub {
      shift->_doLog(@$lev, @_);
    };
  }

  $singleton;
);