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Show THE D AILY TAH U , CHRONICLE ""IT j j-HZ T "" "T mma j' b,,j JUJLJL JLj S( ..... Miscornmunication in the Shadow of the Space Needle vt'W'. Meeting a Need (to Prune?) in San Diego MATT CANHAM Chronicle Feature Writer ELIZABETH KH!T Chronicie News Writer the door creaked open, the light glistened off le cobwebs and made all of the creatures scatter from the area. What was described as "the base ment" was really a hole in the wall of the Atlantic Street Center, a community-servic- e A s e can use about three people to work with the kids" said Cathy Anzuoni, the manager for ?.n area of parks . organization in Seattle, Wash. Four University of Utah students stared in at the filth and clutter, wondering if this was the reason they had given up their Spring Break and trek. made the Construction workers stopped what they were doing to offer the students gloves once they saw two students removing an open bag of charcoal. It was obvious that U student Bart Brinkman did not expect this type of work. He wore an orange vest over his white shirt and his pants were brand new. He recognized that cleaning "the basement" wasn't the glamorous work listed in the Alternative Spring Break brochure, but he also knew it had to be done. , "What we did was valuable," he said. Bart was one of 23 U students who opted to do community service instead of partying during Spring Break. The Lowell Bennion Community Service Center, the Office of Health Promotion, and the Alcohol and Drug Education Center organized multiple trips, one of which went to Seattle. Even though each of the participants had a good experience, miscornmunication and frustration were the trip's overall key words. Volunteers started the trip frustrated with the first service project. Students cut out construction paper stars, sorted working computers from broken ones and cleaned the basement. Menial tasks left the students feeling unfulfilled and useless. The group looked forward to working with elementary school children and Seattle's homeless, but the first time out didn't run smoothly. Half of the U students went to Cooper Elementary School, but poor directions caused them to arrive two hours late. The other half went to Whitter Elementary School, only to find a different problem nobody informed the school that volunteers were coming. A miscornmunication took place between the Street Center, which organized the project, and the school. The regular tutors, who are from the University of Washington, were busy studying for their finals, so "the Homework Club" took a month off, leaving the U volunteers more free time in Seaule. Another miscornmunication took place with the Sharehouse, an organization providing free furniture to families. The Sharehouse also had no idea the students were coming. Instead of playing in San Diego, Calif. At least six hards of the ur third-quart- - ! 1 f i I 16 Alternative Spring Break par ticipants shot up into the air; Anzuoni chose the three fastest and the rest resolved xa be happy with pruning arid painting for the three days of planned service, Many people ascribe to the idea that community service is only valued by those receiving it and that the value is only derived from human interaction. However, during the ASB San Diego trip, participants said community service had its own intrinsic worth.. "1 think any service that someone can do is worthwhile service," San Diego staff partner Melanie Rubiacava said. Those who went to San Diego zs one of the many ASB trips set up by the Low- ell Bennion Community Service Center, the Office of Heaith Promotion, and the Alcohol and Drag Education Center to serve a community whila getting 'a vacation said they liked the work they did because they could see a visible difference. "We actually accomplished something," participant Margaret McAdams said.. "There was a visible result." The group primarily worked with the severely understaffed Park and Recre-?tio- n Department of San Diego to do seme of the jobs its i,6oo employees can- Hiiiary Hoskins (left) and Margaret McAdams prune tfce d3y away at Olive Grove Park In $m Di?go, Calif, for Alternative Spring Break. Participants on tha not e en start. "We're usually playing catch up' Anzuoni said. "There are some things we just can't get to." Anzuoni said they have b?en relying more and more on volunteers lately. The volunteers, she said, are valuable because they not only donate labor hours, but because thsy boost the morale of San Diego City Park and Recreation workers. "When you think of a ground maintenance worker being on bis job for eight hours each dayyou've given him all that extra time," she said. There are two iides to volunteerism, the giving and the receiving. Getting rid cf the overgrown vegetation in four or five parks around San Diego certainly does not affect the citizens of San Diego directly. After all, they have no idea thzt iS University of Utah students came to work five or six hours each day for three days. Local groups could have served1 the parks far more economically. But the.' lure is the vacation, and leader Bran' don Hunter knew it. "1 think that some participants were a little bit more concerned with being in the sun," Hunter said. In the future, he said he wants r.he aim of the vacation to be more poiij'tpd so people understand what they are "letting a into. ::y,'' back be said he'il Regardless, he "I still think we had a verypositive impact on tnat city, he said. s may take note Jhat their and the parks look cleaner arid well-ke- f, participants can take pride in tpjat. the trip :,jftopefulIy Furthermore, instilled in the participants s love and appreciation of service thatwill last longer than the pruning they did. So, was the service worth it? ' Some participants said 'yes' without ;. co-si- ; Park-goer- trip worked to beautify city parks. see SAN DiEGO, er low-incom- e see SEATTLE, page Alternative Spring Break Participants had plenty of time to see the city and took advantage of it. They checked out the wharf, aquarium, the market and, of course, the 10 1 Space Needle. CHRONICLE l: JlLJ, FEATURE EDITOR til 5 ! r- - Jill m SHANE McCAMMON SHANECHRONICLE.UTAH.EDU te 581-704- 1 p?gelOx: |