Counselors involved in a newly publicized program at the Career Development and Placement Center said they hope lesbian, gay and bisexual students will find something helpful at the end of some counselors' rainbows.

The program is an effort to help lesbians, gays and bisexuals with career choices, and the rainbow is a multicolored triangle displayed on doors or on buttons of counselors, signifying they are part of the lesbian, gay and bisexual support network and are particularly sensitive to gay issues.

Jack Rayman, director of Career Development and Placement Services, said the program is not a new idea.

"It evolved," he said. "We've never felt that gay, lesbian and bisexual students have been unwelcome here -- we've been serving them for some time, but there has been some hesitation for lesbian, gay and bisexual students for fear they would not be dealt with with sensitivity."

Karolyn Hicks, Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Student Alliance liaison to the educational equity committee, helped to organize the program. She said there will be an orientation Feb. 6 to introduce LGBSA members to the services available at the center.

Three counselors at the center are part of the network. Students are welcome to see any counselor, Rayman said, but will probably find that those displaying the network sign on their door are particularly sensitive to the issues facing lesbian, gay and bisexual students.

Diane Weller, a career counselor, said the approach to career counseling is no different with any group, but there may be some special issues that students want to address, such as discrimination in the workplace or diverging sexual orientation.

Ellen Houser, a counselor and member of the network, said she spoke with Hicks about career concerns of LGBSA members. When some students begin to discover their sexual orientation they may rethink their career goals, while others worry whether their career goals will allow them to be who they are, Houser said.

She said students ask questions such as "Can I teach and be 'out?' " or "How 'out' can I be?" Students also must decide whether to divulge their sexual identity in the workplace and how it would feel to be "in the closet" at work.

Hicks expressed concern about issues such as whether to include her leadership positions in LGBSA on her resum or if she would be protected by an employment clause if she came out.

Although both Rayman and Weller said they have never encountered discrimination based on sexual orientation while helping students in the placement process, they said it is present. Rayman used the example of the military, and Weller said it could be dangerous to be "out" in a field such as law enforcement.

Rayman said it is difficult to measure the impact of the program because it is impossible to know someone's sexual orientation, unless he or she discloses it. But he said a main priority of the program is to let lesbian, gay and bisexual students know they are welcome at the center.

Houser will expand on the career issues for the gay community in a seminar she is presenting with Weller called "OUT in the Workforce" during Gay Pride Week in April. She said she joined the network "because it was there."

"I felt that there was a need for students to know where the gay-friendly staff is," Houser said.