[FYI: reprinted from the Columbia University Spectator, 4/2/93]

		Health Science Dorms to House Couples
		by Bill Torrey, Spectator Staff Writer

	As a result of complaints file by two students at theSchool of  
Physicians and Surgeons, housing officials are planning to alter in the  
next few months a Health Sciences policy that bars unmarried couples from  
living in University residence halls.
	Arguing that committed homosexual couples should have the same  
rights as married heterosexual couples, second year medical students Susan  
Meyer and Stephen Biondi, who are both homosexual, have each filed a  
complaint with University housing authorities alleging discrimination on  
the basis of sexual orientation.
	Meyer and Biondi were both denied requests for Universsity housing  
for themselves and their domestic partners earlier this semester.  After  
they filed official grievances with the Helaht Sciences housing office,  
officials decided to change their policy, according to Bill Scott, deputy  
vice president of institutional real estate.
	Although the plans to house domestic partners will probably become  
effective too late to house either Meyer or Biondi, who will both finish  
their studies at the Health Sciences campus this semester, Scott said that  
domestic partners should have no unusual problems getting one bedroom  
University apartments beginning this summer.
	Meyer, who is the first medical student to file a grievance on  
domestic partner policies with the University, said she first noticed  
unfair treatment when she applied for a membership in the Bard Hall  
Athletic Facility for her domestic partner last year under the program  
that allows spouses of medical students to apply for membership at the  
gynmansium.
	"I found out early that there might be some problems," said Meyer,  
adding that she was told that unmarried partners could not become members.   
"Obviously I can't get married," she said.
	Meyer said she filed an official complaint shortly after she  
requested and was immediately denied housing on January 5.
	Biondi, who said he has been in a relationship with his current  
lover for seven years and who filed his complaint with the University on  
Monday, pointed out that unmarried couples can obtain housing at the  
Morningside Heights campus, unlike those living at the uptown campus.
	"What's needed is a Unviersity-wide policy," Meyere said.  "I  
think that goes back to the Provost to do that."
 	The discrepancy in the two policies can be attributed to  
differences in the availability of housing, according to University  
Provost Jonathan Cole.
	At the Morningside campus, where abundant housing makes it  
possible to accommodate all married and unmarried partners, applicants are  
asked only if they constitute a "couple," according to Cole.
	Health Sciences has limited housing available for couples, and  
housing officials said they fear that opening up Health Sciences housing  
to any pair who call themselves a couple could lead to a shortage of  
housing for those legally married.
	"Until recently it didn't seem to be an issue," Cole said.
	The new policy at the Health Sciences campus will provide housing  
for unmarried homosexual and heterosexual couples who can prove they are  
domestic partners, presumably by getting themselves certified as domestic  
partners by the City of New York, according to Scott.	
	No proof is required for couples requesting housing at the  
Morningside Heights campus.
	Meyer and Biondi are currently living with their domestic partners  
in apartments a few miles from the Health Sciences campus.
	"There have been many times that I wished I lived on campus,"  
Meyer said, referring espcially to the "exhausting" subway rides home on  
nights when she works late in the library.
	Lambda Health Alliance, a homosexual support group at the Health  
Sciences campus, has been working on a petition requesting equal housing  
and gymnasium privileges for domestic partnerships.  The petition  
currently has more than 600 signatures and will soon be delivered to  
various authorities at both campuses, said Kyle Holan, Lambda co-chair.
	Cole said he hopes the planned policy will send a clear message  
that the University supports equal rights for homosexuals.
	Meyer said she has not yet recieved a direct response to her  
complaints about housing or gymnasium membership, and officials at Bard  
Hall Athletic Facility could not be reached for comment.
	Meyer added that she believes the policy change is being enacted  
too slowly, and that administrators are delaying it until she graduates.