Don't force UNM students to do community service

Editor,

Making community service a requirement has its obvious pros and cons. Even though the Service Action Network has the best intentions in mind, it may not be the way to go.

While doing community service is something everyone should try, it should not be forced. UNM has a wide variety of students, and not all of them have the time to be able to do these things. There are many parents on campus that struggle to fit in a class or two while still raising their children. There are many younger students who don't have the support of their parents, so they need to pay for school themselves by working multiple jobs.

As for the Student Action Network trying to make community service easier to find, it already is easy. There are many honors organizations that already do monthly projects. There are even clubs that do not require a certain GPA or major to join.

For instance, Collegiate Kiwanis is a purely community service organization. We take part in many projects throughout the entire year. In fact, this upcoming month, we are volunteering at the Children, Youth and Families Department to help clean up the facility, and we are participating in Relay for Life and Spring Storm. We are working hard on our initiative to promote child literacy, by planning events to read with kids in schools. We also volunteer at Project Share and the Roadrunner Food Bank.

Community service is there and easy to find. A great way to start is by visiting the Collegiate Kiwanis Web site, Unm.edu/~collkiwa. We pride ourselves in doing community service for the sake of service. There are no points to earn or rÇsumÇs to build. Our group is here to participate in projects and do something for our community.

Ann Kostecki

UNM student and president

of Collegiate Kiwanis