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The Daily Wildcat

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The Daily Wildcat

The Daily Wildcat

 

    Pulse of the Pac: Cost of tuition and next steps in LGBT rights movement

    From “Oregon State contributing to student-debt crisis,” by Cassie Ruud

    The options are thus: Hope that the job market, which currently shares characteristics with an angry Department of Motor Vehicles employee, takes pity on you regardless of your education and judges you for your skills.

    Or, sign your name in blood, promising the life of your firstborn to higher education so that you have a better chance of landing a job.

    Does it have to be like this?

    Probably not.

    Did you know that the University of Wyoming only wants $4,404 for in-state tuition and fees?

    And if you apply all of your money saving superpowers — scholarships, grants and Top Ramen — those prices don’t look quite so scary. College becomes a possibility without the damning Faust-like potential to lose your soul in the process.

    I don’t know what Wyoming is doing that we’re not to keep its tuition prices low, but it seems to be up-to-date on its student health services and diversity centers.

    At least on the surface, it doesn’t look too different from OSU.
    Except for that price tag.

    So, however Wyoming is balancing its checkbooks to make college more affordable for students, I gently suggest that OSU take a leaf out of the same book.

    The Daily Barometer
    Oregon State University

    From “Miles to go before we sleep: Bringing LGBT homelessness into the spotlight,” by Dylan Teague McDonals

    LGBT youth constitute five percent of minors overall, but 40 percent of homeless minors, a discrepancy commonly attributed to ostracism by religious families. … An estimated 1.7 million minors are homeless in America, yet only 4,000 shelter beds are set aside for youth at all. Even those meager resources are not an option to many LGBT youth, who are often singled out for abuse by other homeless youth because of their sexual orientation. The youth shelter, when it exists, can be just as hostile as the home. Current government-run systems, such as child services, shelters and foster programs, take almost no account of sexual or gender identity, and LGBT youth sometimes find themselves placed in intolerant foster families.

    Back in 2010, [Dan] Savage spearheaded the “It Gets Better” project, which addressed the tide of rising suicide among LGBT youth by having LGBT adults show how life can improve. But homelessness is a different sort of problem. Sticking it out can be hard enough with a roof overhead and food in the fridge.

    … It’s time for increased activism from LGBT people and allies in this area. For homeless youth, it doesn’t simply “get better.” It has to be actively made better. This is an opportunity for the community to really pull together and provide for those in the greatest danger.

    We shouldn’t stop campaigning for increased acceptance and legal protections, but we also need to expand in certain other directions. Those with the greatest means should found nonprofits and open shelters specifically catering to LGBT youth. As adoption rights are won and expanded, LGBT and allied households can adopt or at least foster homeless youth.

    The Daily
    University of Washington

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