April 15, 2007
By Mariana Lima
Beta Iota Kappa Chapter’s Historian
A Cleaner Mission Beach Today
Some beachgoers had a reason to say “Thank you” this Sunday morning.
Members of Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) spent two hours cleaning the Mission Bay Area, concluding the 2007 Beta Iota Kappa Chapter’s participation with the “Adopt-A-Beach,” a California’s Department of Education program.
Members collected a large volume of trash off Mission Beach’s shore, from foam and cigarette butts, to other surprising dejects.
“We found two shovels, a couple of dead birds, a lot of tar and a lot of pollute, which is also pretty disturbing,” said Ryan Ballard, 20, a new PTK member.
A volunteer with the Phi Theta Kappans found a sea snail stuck in one of those pieces of tar, a sample of pollution destroying life right in front of people’s eyes.
“Seeing the snail on the tar is reflective of the poor condition of the beaches, considering that an animal from the natural environment makes a home on pollution,” said volunteer Chris Uranga, 28. “People need to be aware of what they’re doing on the beach. We found too much trash for there being so many trash cans.”
But Faith Evans, 42, a five-year-long PTK member, had a different opinion when it came to the cleaning conditions of Mission Beach.
“It wasn’t very dirty around here. A lot of people are keeping it clean,” Evans said.
President of the Beta Iota Kappa Chapter, Naryssa Kephart, 20, said that PTK members and its volunteers collected approximately 80 pounds of trash, as opposed to 57 collected previously. She also said that the beach cleanup had a “good turnout” because around 10 participants were present, having doubled the number that she expected to be at Mission Beach this Sunday morning.
“I am glad everybody came out today and I hope to see raises for the next activity,” Kephart said.
And it could be for a common pleasure that the hard-blowing wind neither prevented Phi Theta Kappans from cleaning the shore nor prevented some beachgoers from jumping into the water.
“It was very rewarding and very relaxing around the water and the clean air,” said Evans, who recommended that more people get involved in a cleanup project such as the “Adopt-A-Beach.”
