New Delians requirements help beautify Samo campus

As of this month, members of the Delians Honors Society must complete five hours of mandatory community service hours, on-campus, at scheduled Delians events, on top of completing five hours of community service at a venue of their choice. While some students welcome this change, other students are skeptical.“We were noticing that people were signing up [for Delians] and right after that, it’s like they go into the abyss, we never see them again. We got the idea that people weren’t taking Delians seriously enough, and we thought that we needed to make it a little more prestigious to be a part of,” Delians president, senior, Stephanie Farzam said.Delians vice-president and leader of this project, Chris Hino added, “I was looking at what we do and, in the past, we haven’t done too much. I would like to [accomplish] more, because Delians has a lot of potential which I think we can take advantage of.”The first three events, which took place last Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, required Delians to scope out graffiti around the campus and then scrub it off using washcloths and sponges.Despite the hard labor, several Delians members expressed their excitement for taking a larger role in the preservation of the school, and believe that the additional hours will raise the standards of the honors society.“I feel today was very successful because it was very eye opening to see how much graffiti there is around the school. I am very excited to beautify our school,” one Delian, sophomore Tracie Loo said Wednesday.Likewise, junior Alina Garcia Taormina said, “The addition of the extra hours exemplifies what Delians is really about.”While some are eager to get more involved with school restoration, others have reservations about the implementation of these mandatory hours.“To be honest, having to do the mandatory hours is a little surprising. It kind of caught us all off guard,” sophomore Brandon Pearl said.Other students, like sophomore Ada Campagna, acknowledge their fear that they will have difficulty completing the hours if their hectic schedules prevent them from attending events scheduled by Delians.School Janitor Felipe Cueva knows firsthand the difficulties of dealing with graffiti, and believes that Delians’ efforts are already helping to improve the overall cleanliness of the school.“I think it is a very good idea because [janitors] have to clean up graffiti daily,” Cueva said. “If these kids want to clean up now, maybe the graffiti won’t be as bad later. We all have to deal with it.”Jeff Frazier, SMMUSD Plant Manager and Samo alum, expressed his gratitude to the Delians for volunteering their time and informed the students of the lack of personnel and equipment needed to tackle and be on top of one of the school’s major issues, graffiti.“Everyday people will walk by [graffiti]. They want to make change but they won’t want to come out and help and contribute. You have to make change with effort. So I thank you for coming out and supporting the school and trying to beautify your campus,” Frazier said.The honors society is expected to host no more than five scheduled events and therefore, Delians officers recommend students fulfill their requirements early, when they are available. The three clean-ups last week, which were devoted to graffiti removal, together count as one of the five events that Delians will put on over the course of the year.In order for these mandatory hours to be accepted, Delians are required to sign in to each event by including their first name, last name and time in; make a college counselor aware that he or she is present at each event; participate throughout the activity to his or her fullest ability; and have hours signed off by either a college counselor or the Delians president/vice-president.To receive Delians updates and information about scheduled Delians events, join the Google Groups email listings and the Delians Facebook Group.Chelsea BrandweinStaff Writercbrandwein@thesamohi.com