LGBT supports ‘varying needs’

In response to the Oct. 17 article “LGBT Clubs Promote Equality, Awareness,” it stated the LGBT Resource Center was established to help students find housing, which is not correct.

To clarify, the LGBT Resource Center was created with a mission of creating a safe and inclusive environment for the LGBT community within the University community through educational experiences, advocacy and support services that promote the personal, intellectual and academic growth of all students.

I would also like to challenge The Red & Black and the University community to realize although Lambda Alliance and other identity-based groups focus on specific portions of student identity, the students we support come from many different areas of life and from diverse backgrounds. I was dismayed to see the addition of the word “sexual” to my quote which read: “I don’t have a single friend who has not been attacked based on their [sexual] identity.” I made my statement without the word “sexual” for a reason.

Lambda Alliance is a group that includes all queer identities, which encompasses gender identity – a separate thing altogether from sexual identity.

Lambda members have multifaceted identities that include race, religion, nationality and many other classifications, and those members face different types and kinds of discrimination as a result of those identities in addition to their sexual or gender identities.

Lambda is a group with quite a bit of diversity, and as executive director, I try to be sensitive to the varying needs of those members. It is my belief that University students, faculty and staff should do the same within the larger context of the campus community.

SHAWNA SCOTT
Junior,
Winter Springs, Fla.
Executive Director, Lambda Alliance

Water rations? Price it instead

Inspired by Chris Chiego’s Oct. 16 call to arms (minds?) on the water crisis, I propose a simple solution: Price it.

We have a drought. There is a water shortage. Raise the price. Nothing will eliminate water waste and unnecessary usage faster and more efficiently than asking people to pay for it.

Rationing the University? Is this the best “solution” our politicians and administrators can come up with? Is this a solution?

Wait, you say, what about the poor? The price system is easily flexible enough to handle this situation, especially as most every household in the area is metered.

Charge the current price for a predetermined amount that represents basic water needs, say 25 gallons a week (or whatever is appropriate), and then raise the price considerably for profligate users.

The price system is a very efficient mechanism for allocating scarce resources, and we temporarily have water as a scarce resource.

PAUL IRVINE
Assistant Professor,
Finance,
Athens