When I was a young child growing up in Texas, I feared basements. For one, they did not exist in Texas. Our land was too flat and we had no room to accommodate them. So I plead ignorance on that account. I did see numerous movies, though, where the basements were the sites of illicit activity. One of the most vivid accounts I have of basements is in "Home Alone," when Macaulay Culkin must venture down to his basement to grab something for his parents. I remember being just as scared as he was of the gurgling furnace and shadowed mannequins. The place was so dark and creepy! Besides, in other movies like, "Silence of the Lambs" and "Frankenstein" people were always being murdered or, even worse, tortured or experimented on down in basements. This is not a place where I wanted to venture and spend time.

But then I came to Amherst College. All of these impressions pretty much changed and my fear of basements has been assuaged a little. Here, basements are sites of TAP, Beirut games and, most surprisingly, studying. The basement has metamorphosed into a social environment. I thought, they may not be such a bad place to be after all, so long as many people dwell in them at certain times.

But wait-to every theory there are exceptions and I can think of one basement that does not apply: the basement of Pratt Dormitory. Every time I head down to Pratt's basement, my heart begins to beat a little faster, my ears perk up listening for any odd noises, my eyes search every crevice for any unusual movement. To say the least, it's not a moment I look forward to. All of my worst dreams come back to me.

"So, why do you have to even venture down there?" you might ask. It's home to the Rainbow Room, the meeting place for QUAC and QSA, the queer groups on campus. The Rainbow Room also serves as a social room on campus where students can go to study, to watch movies or to just socialize with other students. This year, though, it has been underused. I began to think about why this might be so. Were other students having the same fears I was about the fearful trip down the stairs leading to the basement room?

That very well might be one of the reasons, but as I sat and thought for a while, I began to think of the social factors and implications of making the trip to the bowels of Pratt. One has to do with the location of the Rainbow Room. Pratt is not on the path to, say, the social dorms. Except for those that have occasional parties in the library, which is located on the first floor, few students perceive Pratt as a central hangout spot on campus. And the basement is certainly not a hub of social activity. Students-straight, gay, lesbian and bisexual-would benefit from having a more accessible place to convene on campus. The room has a number of resources for everyone, from books, movies and magazines to sex education material. Any student would do well to peruse through the library for resource materials and guides for information on the LBGT community and safer sex.

Although the social factor of location of the Rainbow Room might be better served by a more central location, another issue arises, one that, to me, has an even deeper implication than traffic to the room. This concerns what inferences can be drawn from within and outside our College.

What immediately comes to mind when one hears that the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender group on campus is confined to the corner of a dormitory basement? Does that mean that this group's actions need to be hidden from public view, like in the movies where basements were synonymous with illicit activities? Are these groups a source of shame for this campus? Although this line of thought might seem a little extreme, I don't think it is too far from the reality on campus. By having these groups' activities confined to a basement, we do send a message that says they are not deserving of visibility.

This is especially disconcerting when other minority groups on campus have spaces that are more noticeable, like the BSU in the Octagon. I am not attacking those other groups; on the contrary, I think they are just as deserving of welcoming and visible meeting places on campus. My only concern is the perception we send by pushing this one group in the corner of some obscure basement, a group protected by our Affirmative Action Statement on Diversity.

Our administration happily boasts about the College's diversity, but if I were a prospective gay, lesbian or bisexual student looking at Amherst College and didn't sense the visibility of these groups while touring, I might give those numbers our Admissions Office boasts of a second look. There is a benefit to having a cultural group clearly named on a plaque in the Campus Center, a benefit that unofficially says, "Even though we are all Amherst College students, there is a place for those like you and we, along with those in the College community, welcome you to seek those you identify with." That is why our campus includes groups like the BSU, ASA, AFA, La Causa, SMHAC, ISA and Pride Alliance. But each of these groups is undermined when one is seen as less important than the rest. And that trend is currently present on campus.

I know diversity is a buzzword that is thrown around today, but there is an importance to it. Diversity cannot be attained if groups are confined to roles on campus that are obscured from view. I urge everyone to think about what we are saying to the gays, lesbians and bisexuals at Amherst by not allotting them a proper place on campus. Only then will I feel more comfortable going to the Rainbow Room, not being forced to venture into the dark recesses of Pratt basement. And, hopefully, you would too.