Letters to the Editor

Oakland needs to help its homeless

I want to share with you my thoughts on existing here in Oakland. I am a 20-year-old psychology major, and I have worked and attended school here for three years.

There are many things I love about Oakland, two of them being its rich history and culture.

Oakland has been the birthplace of so many art styles and social movements, and I appreciate the people living here that carry their style and love for The Town everywhere.

Sadly, though, homelessness is a pervasive issue here.

I see people being moved out of their tent cities, suffering from hunger and addiction, and being shunned or ignored by most people, daily.

Thousands of Oaklanders are homeless. This is an issue that we can no longer ignore.

I wish there was more we could do to help those people. I want to see change here, and while I know it is a big job to do, I think everyone can play a part.

Caitlyn Lopez
Psychology major

We need more water filling stations

For the past year that I have been attending Laney College I have found it very difficult to fill my water bottle — that is, in convenient places.

I am someone who drinks water frequently from my own water bottle.

It has been a recurring theme of California schools to encourage the use of reusable water bottles.

By my count, there are only three different re-filling stations on campus.

I see why there may be hesitation in installing more of these stations, because we aren’t sure how many people are willing to use them.

But I am questioning why we wouldn’t at least have them available in areas that are frequented by students, like the A Building.

If access to clean drinking water for your ecologically friendly water bottle were more convenient, maybe more students would feel encouraged to stay hydrated and avoid buying more plastic bottles.

It’s much easier to lean forward to fill my bottle than it is to bend over a drinking fountain, hoping to fill half of it.

Clayton Crowell
Communications major