PAGE 2 — THE DECREE — APRIL 8,1994
Clinton service plan becomes reality
By HARRY STRAIGHT
“Uncle Sam wants you. Earn
credit for college tuition while
serving your country.”
If those words conjure up im
ages of boot camps, baggy green
fatigues, and 10-mile hikes with
a 50-pound pack on your back,
think again. This isn’t a recruit
ment message for the U.S. Armed
Forces; it’s an invitation from
President Bill Clinton to get in
volved in grassroots community
service.
The service program that Clin
ton signed into law last year is
becoming reality this year.
Through the newly formed
AmeriCorps program, the Corpo
ration for National and Commu
nity Service plans to offer $150
million in federal grants in 1994
to community service programs
in all 50 states.
For a year’s worth of service,
as many as 20,000 participants
can receive a small salary, roughly
$8,000 annually, basic health care
coverage, child-care support if
needed, and $4,725 in educational
benefits. The program also will
repay student loan interest during
the service and is open to any
U.S. citizen 17 or older.
Participants can work 1,700
hours full-time over nine months
or part-time for 900 hours over
two years. College students can
stretch their service to three years
and still qualify for full educa
tional benefits.
If everything goes as planned.
Convocation leaves
out Theatre Award
By CECHvIA LYNN CASEY
Joan Dobson was mistakenly
omitted from the list of students
honored at the 1994 Honor Con
vention for their work during the
year.
Dobson received the Theatre
Award because of her efforts in
the theater, her good grades and
her contributions to several per
formances that the Department
has produced.
“I feel wonderful to get this
award, and a little sad that there
was an oversight at the awards. I
would have loved to have had
been a part of the convocation,”
Dobson said.
Vaughn Schutz the Director of
the Wesleyan said that a plaque
has been ordered and will be
given to Dobson as soon as it
arrives.
AmeriCorps will ensure a domes
tic service program that will sur
pass the Peace Corps at its height
of popularity, according to the
Clinton advisors. The Peace
Corps currently has about 6,000
members in worldwide service
now.
“The Peace Corps was never
more than 16,000, yet it had such
a dramatic influence on
America’s perception of itself.
We hope that we will do as good
a job as the Peace Corps and have
the same impact,” said Rick
Allen, the program’s senior ad
viser and a deputy assistant to
President Clinton.
During his campaign, Clinton
made a strong push for
AmeriCorps, which became law
last September when he signed
the National ^d Conununity Ser
vice Trust Act. Although
AmeriCorps isn’t as big as Clin
ton and his supporters hoped it
would be at first, there are plans
to double the funding to $300 mil
lion in 1995, $500 million in
1996, and $700 million in 1997,
which would allow more people
to take part. However those fig
ures are not certain since pro
grams and funding must be justi
fied through the congressional
appropriations process every year.
At the bill signing, Clinton said
he hoped that “national service
will remain throughout the life of
America, not as a series of prom
ises but a series of challenges,
across all the generations and all
walks of life to help push to re
build our troubled but wonderful
land.’’
Since then, AmeriCorps has
been working on the details for
putting the programs in place.
Summer programs should be up
and running by June with full-
scale operations in place by the
fall, Allen said.
The kind of work available to
participants will be limited only
by the imagination of the service
agencies that win grants. Partici
pants could find ttiemselves tu
toring inner city kids, building
parks and recreation facilities,
helping immunize children in ru
ral areas, repairing homes for the
elderly, delivering food to shut-
ins — in short, just about any
kind of community service.
“When we ask for grant appli
cations we’re going to be looking
at the quality of the idea. Is it
going to make a real difference?
Getting things done in the com
munity is the principal criteria.
We want to know how it will
make things better, and how do
you measure that?” Allen said.
Several successful ideas came
out of a pilot program last sum
mer called the Summer of Ser
vice, which engaged 1,500 young
people in 16 different commu
nity service projects in 12 differ
ent cities.
The 1994 summer pilot pro
gram will be called Summer of
Safety and focus on public safety
needs. AmeriCorps hopes to have
3,000 participants involved in
such crime prevention activities
as boarding up abandoned build
ings, painting over graffiti, and
working with local law enforce
ment agencies to develop anti-^
crime strategies for specific areas
such as playgrounds, public trans-’
portation points, and other public;
gathering spots.
AmeriCorps plans to start al
locating year-long grants by July
1, with most programs starting in,
September or October. Each state
will be eligible for a share of the
grant money on a proportionat
basis, with larger states getting
more. A certain number of na
tional projects, such as the Ameri
can Red Cross, for example, carf
also compete for grant money out-^
side of the state programs.
While AmeriCorps executives
expect states to conduct their own
aggres^ve recruitment programs,*
those interested in participating,
can contact AmeriCorps’ Wash
ington, D.C., office and have their
names added to a national pool of
volunteers by writing 1100 Ver-'
mont Ave. NW, Washington,
D.C. 20525 or calling 1-800-94;
ACORPS for more information.
FEEL THE BEAT
1994 Spring Fling T-shirts are on sale NOW!
Cost is only $10.00 per shirt, and there is
a limited quantity!
See Sue in the Student Activities Center,
CAB members, and designated Senior Class
members to get yours!
It's HOT so get it NOW!
NORTH
_ CAROLINA
^ WESLEYAN
COLLEGE
“We’re looking for
a few good people.”
Are you interested in having fun, laugh
ing a lot, and helping out, too? There is a
space for you on the Campus Activities
Board. We can always use help and input in
the movie selections and activity selections.
Also, it’s a great way to have fun and meet
others.
Take some time, think about getting in
volved in an organization where you can
help choose the campus entertainment!
For more info, or if you’d like to join the
Campus Activities Board (CAB), call Sue at
5227!