The Mail

SEFA should address issue of discrimination

To the university community:
As a member of the university community, I have been extremely distressed to observe once again this year, UB's institutional support of the annual SEFA campaign (through weekly exhortations to achieve 100 percent compliance, etc.). Although I do realize that SEFA provides the opportunity to donors to give to many worthy causes of their own choosing, I can't understand why the Boy Scouts of America is allowed to remain a member organization of United Way. The Boy Scouts of America openly discriminates against gay citizens, refusing to allow openly gay individuals to become scouts or scout leaders, citing its status as a "private organization" that can legally exclude gays for "moral reasons." (I don't come by this information anecdotally, I've repeatedly attempted to volunteer with the Boy Scout organization-they don't even answer my letters.)

OK, so maybe now you're thinking, "well, gee, though I think of myself as a liberal, tolerant person, it does make me a bit queasy to think about having homosexuals around my child." Or, one might say, "no one has to give to the Boy Scouts through SEFA, it's an individual choice to whom one gives." Here's the question I put to you: does SEFA have any member organizations that deny membership to African Americans, Hispanics, the disabled, or any other minority group or individual based on a condition of birth? Wouldn't a good many of you be outraged if this were the case?

I think that SEFA/United Way needs to be held accountable for the discriminatory practices of its member organizations and I would ask that until this issue is resolved that UB reconsider its commitment of state resources, material and time in support of SEFA. It may not be illegal for the Boy Scouts to discriminate, but it's the opposite of what I would call moral. As a gay man, I would say on behalf of gays that we are just like any other group of people: we try to live moral lives; we don't recruit; we don't molest children-and common decency dictates that we be treated with the same dignity and respect as anyone else.

­Joseph Murray, Department of Geography

Vigilance of Getzville Fire Company is appreciated

Letter to the Editor:
This is a brief, but sincere, note of appreciation to the Getzville Fire Department, which on Oct. 27 answered an alarm in the Cooke/Hochstetter building complex. While the actual problem lay in a faulty smoke alarm, the response can only be termed as amazing. In addition to a campus response from Public Safety and Occupational and Environmental Safety, the Getzville Fire Company sent three fire trucks and a full hook-and-ladder crew. Why was this done, when in fact there was no real danger of fire (only a faulty alarm)? As explained to me by members of the response team, they go on the assumption that a real and present danger exists from the alarm signal (faulty or not). I know we all become somewhat complacent in our day-to-day routines on campus, but it is very comforting to know that there is a safety apparatus in place, ready and willing to answer when the need arises. On behalf of our faculty, staff and students within the Cooke/Hochstetter complex, thank you, Getzville Fire Department, and to the other campus safety officials for their vigilance.

-Michael S. Hudecki, research professor and executive officer
-Ronald Berezney, professor and chair Department of Biological Sciences