Moving National Service Forward

Jun 19, 2008 Posted by Sahar Iranipour

        It is through various National Service programs that the strength and unity of the U.S. is exhibited, which is why it remains of the upmost importance to have a President in office that will work to expand the capacities of such programs.  While in office, President George W. Bush set forth a budget for organizations like Americorps that would allow it to maintain its current level of members.  According to Senator and Presidential hopeful John McCain this demonstrates that “national service today has truly bipartisan support”.  Yet when you consider the tens of thousands of applicants that are turned down each year from serving in Americorps due to limited funds, it seems that this partial support is simply not enough.  What the country truly needs is a President who is committed to strengthening National Service Programs and will do so through expanding the federal budget for such programs.  By raising the budget, which has been reduced for the past five consecutive years, the President would allow the youth, seniors and all else that wish to volunteer their time the opportunity to make a difference in their communities.  
    What also needs to remain high on the President’s agenda in terms of National Service is getting the word out about what National Service really is and the ways people can come together to serve their country.  Often many people want to lend a helping hand yet are unaware of the different opportunities which they are able to take part in.  An innovative and interesting proposal of creating a national online network, modeled on craigslist, which Barack Obama plans to implement if elected President would help fix the problem of awareness for National Service.  The online network would inform volunteers of the different National Service programs.  The centralized online system would provide accessibility to the numerous organizations allowing individuals to find a program which suits their needs and objectives.  Building awareness to the ways each individual can serve their country would help keep people accountable of the responsibilities of being a citizen, encouraging them to do their part.  A program that would also go hand in hand with the national online network in creating awareness behind National Service would be to engage middle and high-school, as well as college students in community service activities.  Children from an early age should recognize the value of such service, just as they are taught the value of academic studies such as mathematics and history.  The curriculum in the school setting should be adjusted in a way that would make room for such service.  Instilling these values of service and commitment to better our nation would indeed benefit the future of the nation as well as the future of the children taking part in such service.    

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national service, president (all tags)

A Call in Support of Service

Jun 18, 2008 Posted by Arun Inbavazhvu

If the next President is serious about expanding and supporting national service, then he must call upon every citizen very early in his presidency to get involved.  A perfect time to do this would be his Inaugural Address in January 2009.  By publicizing national service early on, the new President could raise awareness about various service programs and inspire citizens.  As great as AmeriCorps is, unfortunately John McCain was right when he wrote in his article in the Washington Monthly seven years ago that most Americans “say they have never heard of the program.”  We know that both Barack Obama and McCain both support national service and both have plans to expand them to scale.  Several other politicians have made it clear that they also support the movement and will push legislation in Congress to expand and sustain national service.  Taking these elements as a given, the best thing the next President could do is rally public sentiment and awareness towards national service in order to hasten the changes necessary.  Politicians will treat the subject with more urgency the more people speak up in support of the movement.  Essentially, I feel the best thing the next President could do to expand national service would be to do basically the same job we are trying to accomplish at ServeNext: to educate the public and leaders of the values and benefits of national service for America.  Simply hearing the President talk about national service in depth can go a long way in not just changing, but more like creating the positive public image that national service deserves.  When the public is mobilized in full support of such a bipartisan movement, there is very little that could stop it.

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national service, president, americorps (all tags)

Is a “Secretary of National Service” possible in our future?

Jun 18, 2008 Posted by Arun Inbavazhvu

Of the many suggestions proposed to strengthen national service, one that would make a virtually immediate impact would be transforming the Corporation for National and Community Service into a Cabinet-level department reporting directly to the President.  Firstly, such an action would show that the government is incredibly serious about expanding national service to scale.  With the President interacting with a Secretary of National Service on a nearly daily basis, achieving the goal of increasing national service to one million volunteers would come swiftly and efficiently.  It also would bring a great deal of public attention to national service.  I know plenty of college-age people that have the capability and will to serve if only presented with the chance.  A full-fledged Department of National Service would put the topic on the forefront of the minds of many engaged Americans.  Secondly, the establishment of such a Cabinet position would legitimize national and community service in the eyes of many Americans as a totally valid and fruitful way to give back.  Unfortunately, currently to much of the youth in this country, community service is seen as something to be done to “look good for college” or as part of sentence for a misdemeanor crime.  One only has to look to pop culture to see the state of things.  In the first season of the popular CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, the main character Ted Mosby discovers that his womanizing, self-centered, alpha-male friend Barney Stinson volunteers at a local soup kitchen and enjoys the work immensely, enough to be named “Volunteer of the Month”.  Ted spends the entire episode wondering how a self-seeking guy like Barney could possibly enjoy volunteering, only to discover near the end of the episode that Barney was performing community service as part of his sentence for getting arrested for public urination (on the side of a church, no less).  Creating a Department of National Service would show that the government believes increased service would be a positive thing for communities, not just as part of a sentence.  Thirdly, a future Secretary of National Service could coordinate with other cabinet level departments such as Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, and many others.  Such cooperation could lead to solutions to tackle the current healthcare crisis and energy crisis that many Americans face today through specified national service programs such as the proposed “Health Corps” and “Green Corps”.  With a Secretary of National Service present, other departments would also be inspired into creatively using national service to solve issues.
    We already know that the next President will support national service.  Yet creating a Cabinet level position for it would probably be the best thing that could happen for the public perception of national service.  Time will tell if such a plan could become reality.

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cabinet department, executive, president, national service (all tags)

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