<SYSTEM_TASK:>
Solve the following problem using Python, implementing the functions described below, one line at a time
<END_TASK>
<USER_TASK:>
Description:
 def configure_logging(conf):
 """Initialize and configure logging."""

    root_logger = logging.getLogger()
    root_logger.setLevel(getattr(logging, conf.loglevel.upper()))
    if conf.logtostderr:
        add_stream_handler(root_logger, sys.stderr)
    if conf.logtostdout:
        add_stream_handler(root_logger, sys.stdout)