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Show 4 Thursday February 27, 2014 OPINION Gender-neutral housing should become college campus norm www.dailyutahchronicle.com U.S. was right to support the Olympics JACKSON HANNON Columnist GEORGIE ZAMANTAKIS Columnist lmost every day, prospective U students arrive on campus for tours, excited, anxious and ready to learn about how to make a university experience their own. Part of the tour includes seeing the residence halls on campus. While many students may find this part thrilling and look forward to the freedom and escape from home, for others, it creates questions and fears about where they will live. Housing is an extremely binary environment. Your roommates or suitemates are of the same "sex" or "gender," and if you live in Gateway Heights, your entire floor is gendersegregated. What can students do when they exist outside of the gender binary? Many point to the Alliance House, a living-learning community providing students with a gender-neutral residential experience. This is a great place to start. In fact, this house contributed to the U being named among the top 25 most LGBT-friendly campuses in the nation. However, there is much more work to be done in regards to creating an all-gender inclusive experience. A non-exhaustive list on the blog FYGS lists at least 31 states having gender-neutral housing options. Some states have only one college or university with this option, while others have multiple. Gender-neutral housing is not a new concept, nor is it a concept that has been tried and failed. As an Oklahoma Daily article on gender-neutral housing at Oklahoma University states, "Genderneutral housing means the choice to live with someone whom students know will be supportive of their sexuality or gender identity. It means freedom from discomfort, discrimination, harassment and fear. It means the choice to live with those who are most comfortable with them, and, in turn, to live in the environment they find most comfortable." Genderneutral housing recognizes that not everyone is heterosexual. Housing policies that place people of only the same "gender" together assume people within that space are not LGBT. In Gateway Heights, students of the opposite sex cannot be in the same room past midnight, presumably because the housing department assumes that sex could occur. Alongside the inclusion of queer people, gender-neutral housing largely provides a safe space for gender-nonconforming and trans* individuals. Gender-segregated floors and rooms are very cissexist (meaning they privilege those whose gender expression and identity matches the sex with which they were born). Students who do not fit into the gender binary are forced to live in a home where their identity is not even recognized. They are given the option to live with "men" or "women." If you are neither of these, where do you go? Some of the critiques raised around gender-neutral housing is that it would force the students who want to live in present situations into uncomfortable or unsafe situations, as well as the idea that gender-neutral housing is a special privilege. The first of these critiques is an unnecessary critique. Genderneutral housing does not have to be a situation in which students no longer have the opportunity to self-identify and choose what other identities they are comfortable living with. Instead, students need to have the option of identifying however they feel comfortable and be able to choose whether they want to live with men, women, genderqueer individuals or trans* individuals, providing everyone with a safe and comfortable home. Secondly, genderneutral housing is not a special privilege. Residence halls are meant to be a student's home for the year. A home is where you should feel included, welcome and celebrated. Gender-neutral housing celebrates and honors every person's identity. A letters@chronicle.utah.edu T hough the 1980 Summer Olympics carried on as usual, the athletes of the United States were across an ocean, watching it on TV. Now over 3o years later, the Russian government has only expanded its record of human rights abuses, the idea of U.S. boycotting the 2014 games was foolish, and by sending our athletes to the events in Sochi, we have not aided the Putin administration, but rather strengthened the ties of the international community and carried on a tradition of athletic cooperation. While the sports news has been dedicated to the Olympics, the lack of bluster has allowed news sources to concentrate on more serious issues and protests, instead of a hollow U.S. boycott that would likely have accomplished nothing. In 1980, the U.S. boycotted the Olympics and stood by as more than 3o world records were set. The lack of American participation had little to no effect on the Soviet Union and only served to isolate the U.S. If we had attempted to boycott the games this year, the end result would have been similar to 1980 — this time with little or no support from other countries. In 1980, 65 countries, including the U.S., turned down their invitations to the games and opted for non-participation. Those 64 other countries are unlikely to repeat their past mistake. Harvey Fierstein of The New York Times writing about Russian anti-gay laws, remarked, "I point with dread to the Holocaust and world war. There is a price for tolerating intolerance." His argument isn't logical. Boycotting the Olympics has never changed laws in the host country. It has never led to a change in government. A boycott serves no purpose, and to have boycotted the games would have been a mistake. Instead, high-level politicians from both the U.S. and Europe have chosen not to attend the RORY PENMAN/The Daily Utah Chronicle Olympics. The Olympics are not a venue for state-wide politicking. They never have been, and they likely never will be. Instead, the U.S. has used them to highlight the differences between America and Russia, to make small yet clear and forceful snubs against Russia and to make our position on their policies cleat As the world watched Sochi, the extent of Russian human rights abuses became all the more clear. When the whole world is watching a nation for two weeks straight, the light tends to touch on most everything. Russia has repeatedly demonstrated they are unwilling to change policy in face of international disagreement. The idea that Russia would repeal a law or change anything in the law because of a boycott is ludicrous. But the United States has still sent a clear message, and the failings of the Russian government have been put on display for the world to see. This is possibly the best way to protest at the Olympics. letters@chronicle.utah.edu Armed forces should expel private contractors ROSE JONES Columnist T he United States military has become a cash cow for private companies and contractors, so it is no surprise corruption and crime are oozing in on every level. Army cadre, commissioned and contracted, are enmeshed with costly recruiting scandals. The Air Force is facing massive cheating within nuclear command, and the Navy is faced with cheating in their Nuclear Power School. Highranking admirals enjoy elaborate vacations for their families on the taxpayer dollar. The Washington Post is championing the Freedom of Information Act by exposing the mounting malfeasance in the Department of Defense. The majority of sworn armed service members stalwartly uphold the U.S. mission statement. But the private enterprise that has been lobbied into the echelon is putting a black mark on the military as a whole. It is reasonable to believe lowand high-ranking officials who see the wealth and luxury enjoyed by young contractors are often tempted into corruption. The corporate greed infiltrating the U.S. defense system has opened doors to military scandals. Honor has been taken out of war for wealth, which means those who aim to serve this country are living in the shadow of those intoxicated by money and power. Our enlisted armed forces are stretched too thin and encumbered by stress — and the private contractor is making bank by exploiting wars for weapons sales instead of fighting for freedom. Since the Afghanistan and Iraq invasions, young American men and women are perhaps more leery about joining the military than they used to be. In 2005, the Army National Guard created the Recruiting Assistance Program, a bonus incentive for National Guard recruiters and private contractors. It was shut down in 2012 after more than 1,200 contractors SALLY YOO/The Daily Utah Chronicle from Docupak, and sworn army recruiters came under investigation for fraudulently taking bonuses without actual recruitment. This type of recruitment fraud is widespread. According to The Washington Post, "More than 200 officers are suspected of involvement, including two generals and dozens of colonels." U.S. taxpayers lost at least $29 million for the fraudulent bonuses, benefiting mostly private contractors. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) was appalled by the scandal and said, "The fraud investigation is one of the largest that the Army has ever conducted, both in terms of the sheer volume of fraud and the number of participants." It could take until 2016 to complete all of the investigations. The navy has uncovered two scandals within its ranks. At least 3o sailors at the Nuclear Power School in South Carolina were accused of cheating on nuclear qualification tests, said USA Today. That is one-fifth of the instructor pool. And The Washington Post reported that three admirals, Mark F. Heinrich, David R. Pimpo and Donald L. Singleton have been rebuked for using defense funds to vacation with their families in Britain in April 2012. On Jan. 3o, Rep. Darrell Issa (RCalif.) called for an investigation into naval officials and private contractors from Yokosuka Naval Base who have exchanged gifts for classified information. According to Military.com, Issa is demanding answers to the "string of contracting scandals that have engulfed the U.S. Navy." The corruption is believed to be stemming from private contractors with Glenn Defense Marine Asia. Federal prosecutors claim GDMA overbilled our navy and bribed our naval officers for information exchanges for more than $20 million U.S. tax dollars. The Air Force has scandals of its own. At least 92 officers stationed at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana were caught cheating on their proficiency tests, and they are no longer certified. Last year at Malmstrom, a unit failed its safety inspection. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said the Air Force is suffering a "systemic" nuclear personnel problem, and "this is not a healthy environment." James visited other nuclear control centers in Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota and said there are problems across the board. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel is very concerned about the military scandals. According to Defense News, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said Hagel "definitely sees this as a growing problem." And it may be worse that he thought. I say the best way to return the military to its high moral and ethical standard is to dismiss all private contractors and market profiteers immediately. We owe it to those willing to enlist for defense of our country. letters@chronicle.utah.edu |