Editor:

Re: "Don't expand benefits while slashing budget," Opinion/July 8.

In this editorial many ill-informed opinions are expressed in a way that does not offer a clear view of the issues at hand. First, partner benefits at the University of Wyoming is not a new, or "terribly timed" issue; this is an issue that members of the faculty, staff, and administration at UW have been working on for (at least) the past five years. These benefits are not currently in effect and I have not heard any timeline for when they may be implemented.

Second, I think it is misleading to see this as an expansion of benefits. It is merely a measure to create equal access to the same benefits for all university employees in a way that does not discriminate against them based on relationship status. When my partner returned to the states after a 17-month deployment and took some time off from her job with the D.O.D., we paid over $400 per month for a Cobra policy so that she could stay insured. This was much more than my colleagues who are married pay for their partners' health coverage.

I am denied this employment benefit because I am not eligible to be married in this state; I do the same job, am equally qualified, have a relationship where I love and care for my partner's health and well-being. As a couple we are active contributors to our community at all levels, including national service. The current benefit policy at UW also discriminates against any couple who is in a committed relationship and may not choose to be married; as a public or religious institution. This kind of discrimination does not seem to have a place in the "Equality State" or in higher education.

Finally, I'd like to suggest that any influence that this change at the University of Wyoming (whenever it is instituted) may have on other state agencies is a positive change. In fact, this is the kind of positive change that we expect our institutions of higher learning to lead the way on. As a society we need to do more than say that we value equality in terms of civil rights and as the Equality State, we need to address institutionalized discrimination within our borders at every opportunity.

SERENA LAMBERT, Laramie