Spring 2009 - Issue 5

The Silversword: Home > Op-Ed > I’m Just Sayin’

I’m Just Sayin’

KG Kaowili-Saniatan, Staff Writer

The end of the year is finally here and instead of the blunt and sarcastic remarks that are usually made in this section, this particular story will be filled with some of Chaminade’s accomplishments and success.

Community Service

Over the years, Chaminade has been making its name through the amount of community service it performs. From assisting the elderly to making a child smile, Chaminade has never turned down a community service opportunity.

Some of the community service that we do is tutor the younger children at Palolo Elementary after school, help Chinese immigrants to become U.S. citizens, clean-up various areas around Oahu, assist mentally challenged children and adults, and even visit the sick at the hospital.

Each year, Chaminade’s goal is to reach 50,000 community service hours with the help of CUH students, faculty, staff and alumni.

According to www.chaminade.edu, we have performed more than 34,000 community service hours and we’re barely halfway through the school year. There are probably even more community service hours that haven’t been counted because not all volunteers record their hours (oops, I didn’t).

Seems like this year we won’t have any problem reaching our pledge of 50,000 community service hours.

I’m just sayin’, what a way to make a difference in this world.

Resources Available

Let’s face it: If we fail at Chaminade, it’s our fault.

Although Chaminade has some challenging programs, I feel that it is possible to pass all of them. Out of my three-and-a-half years at this school, I have never come across a class I couldn’t pass.

And if I struggled, there were always resources that Chaminade had to offer that could help me.

There are so many resources that we can use to help us pass or succeed in a class. To name just a few:

• the librarians are more than willing to help a student find the information we need for a class;
• teachers are always happy to help (even them bad apples);
• there is an online database that can be accessed on and off campus to help us research;
• there are multiple computers for students to use in the library, the Academic Achievement Program, the Loo Center, the Communication Lab (if you’re on “The List”) and C-TRAC (the Castle Curriculum Resource Center);
• and there’s quiet areas in the library and around the campus for students to study, while the AAP offers tutors and many other programs that help students to succeed.

The list goes on and on.

Yes, there are some hard classes at CUH, but it is students’ responsibility to persevere whether we use the resources we have or not. I’m just sayin’, there is really no excuse for a student not to pass here at Chaminade. And if we do fail, it’s all on us. (Sorry, Dr. Blair, but you are OLD. Nice lei, though.)

Clean Environment

Have you ever noticed how clean our school environment is?

As I walk through the campus, I can’t help but notice that not a single piece of litter is on the luscious landscape.

The grass in front of the library is always green, making me want to take off my slippers and walk on it (though I don’t), and the flowers flow in the breeze as if they are waving at passersby.

The designated smoking areas are also pretty clean — at least for smoking areas. They’re not filled with cigarette butts and do not reek of tobacco. A non-smoker can sit at the bench and not realize that it’s a smoking area.

Even the classrooms are clean. I have never seen a trash can in a room left unattended for more than a day. The carpet in the classrooms rarely shows signs of debris and the desks are free from pen marks and graffiti.

Most times, the bathrooms themselves are very clean — at least the girls’ bathrooms and the individual bathrooms are. I admit that at times, the garbage can be overflowing with paper towels, but the bathroom is usually not messy and not smelly.

In some individual bathrooms, there are hand sanitizers, hand lotions, Febreze spray and more bathroom stuff that are meant to make the room smell good.

Not only is our school kept clean but we also have a breathtaking view of Diamond Head and the city.

I’m just sayin’, even U.H. does not have as nice a campus and a view as us. Ha, finally we beat them at something.

Kudos for the janitors and landscapers — thank you for keeping our school beautiful.