In his 1961 inaugural address, President Kennedy issued a challenge to a new generation of Americans: \Ask not what your country can do for you'ask what you can do for your country."" Though the phrase itself has become clich??, today's leaders would do well to revisit those words and review their results'an influx of young Americans into public service through such innovations as the Peace Corps.
Many in our generation are now asking what we can do for our country amid continued uncertainty and economic turmoil. We are getting few concrete answers.
As students of UW-Madison, we have had little trouble complying with our leaders' requests to live our lives normally. We have given blood and maybe donated a little money'about the only sacrifices we have been asked to make so far. But many of us are ready to give much more. Regardless of whether we support our government's actions overseas, there is little doubt that we would like to see a better America.
In a primetime address last Thursday, President Bush took an important first step in asking for more, but he should have gone much further. He announced his administration would ""encourage service to country"" through expansion of the AmeriCorps and SeniorCorps programs and a newly created civil defense service. While these initiatives are a good start, Bush gave little sense of urgency, so his words are unlikely to spur many to action as Kennedy's address did.
A new bill sponsored by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Evan Bayh, D-Ind., goes further. The Call to Service Act of 2001 would greatly expand the funding for AmeriCorps and SeniorCorps programs, direct universities to use work-study programs to promote community service and offer the opportunity to serve a shorter term in the military.
These actions are a good start. However, few people our age have likely heard much about them'or the programs they promote.
AmeriCorps is an example of a good program aimed mainly at people our age. Started in 1993, it is a network of domestic service programs that allows U.S. citizens to contribute between 10 months and one year of service in areas such as education, community-building and public health, in exchange for a living allowance, health care, student loan deferment and an education award of up to $4,725.
Our university is among the nation's leading contributors to the Peace Corps. There is no reason we could not do the same for AmeriCorps or other service programs centered here at home. But this is unlikely to happen unless we are asked.
President Bush, McCain and Bayh, and other national, state and local leaders should reach out to the students of this country, visiting campuses to promote these expanded groups. We are young, most of us with high ideals, and, though we have little money, we are used to hard work. We have benefited greatly from the opportunities life in this country has given us, and more than a few of us would love to give something back.
Our generation is often castigated as lazy, apathetic or, worse yet, cowardly. By directly addressing American youth, this country's leaders would best show their faith in our potential energies.
For now, we must do what we can to challenge ourselves. But a vote of confidence would help. We challenge our leaders to challenge us.
