A huge part of having a full and complete college experience is the communication and the interpretation of new ideas. These can be the greatest experiences a student has because they are challenging and promote individual growth. Students should be motivated to seek out such opportunities to grow and improve themselves.

One opportunity to communicate and interpret new ideas at the U is the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center and the Lesbian and Gay Student Union.

The two-though they may have somewhat similar goals-are distinguishable by the fact that the LGSU is a student group, whereas the LGBT is an official department of the U.

Regardless, the two organizations use their partnership to foster an environment not just for people of specific groups, but for anyone at the U to come and broaden his or her horizons.

And to further their desires to cultivate communication between groups on campus, the two groups have designated a theme for the year-“Reaching out”-with which the groups hope to attract more people willing to involve themselves in the discourse regarding the personal, social and political implications involved in being lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender as a student in Salt Lake City.

Bonnie Owens, co-president of the U’s LGSU, said that Salt Lake City has the third-largest gay population per capita in the United States, which is perhaps one reason the groups are so motivated to involve so many people.

The fact that the Salt Lake area’s gay population is so sizeable makes it important for people-especially students, whose purpose it is to expand their understanding and knowledge of life-to educate themselves about their neighbors.

It also gives strangers to the LGSU and LGBT an opportunity to express their feelings and opinions and to be heard and understood.

U students should take the time, even if it is only once, to go to one of the many events the LGSU and LGBT have planned for this year.

The two groups continue to put in a great deal of effort to understand and be understood by the people in our community, and when someone is trying to communicate, one has an obligation to listen to what that person is trying to say.