Interest in Peace Corps continues to grow

Daily Staff Reporter

Thirty-six years after then-President John Kennedy announced his idea for the Peace Corps from the steps of the Michigan Union, the international service effort has grown into a foreign service program costing $222 million per year.

With President Clinton's plans to expand the Peace Corps by 5,000 volunteers and $48 million, the program is continuing to flourish.

The proposed expansion should meet a growing national interest in volunteering, said Patti Madigan, Peace Corps spokesperson.

"It's a natural extension of Peace Corps and where we're going," Madigan said. "General interest is up. We had over 150,000 people contact us in 1997 to get information about volunteering."

The suggested funding increase would raise the Peace Corps budget from its current $222 million to $270 - a 21 percent increase. In addition, Clinton said he hopes to double the number of overseas volunteers to 10,000.

Sarah Naasko, the University's Peace Corps coordinator, said the corps is an important program that deserves government support.

"The Peace Corps is one of the most efficient foreign aid programs we have," Naasko said. "It manages to reach out and touch a lot of people."

But Sage Westman, a spokesperson for the Michigan Republican Party, said the proposed funding increase shows that Clinton is not concentrating on the most important issues in the United States.

"I think the President likes to hand out a lot of social spending policies ... which help only certain people," Westman said. "We need to focus spending on America's key problems, such as education."

Adam Silver, vice president of the campus chapter of the College Republicans, said he agrees with Westman. Silver said a potential budget surplus should go toward improving education and securing Medicare.

"I think we need to look at necessities pertinent to Americans right now," Silver said.

Dentistry lecturer Kari Gould, who served in the Peace Corps on the island of Vanuatu in the South Pacific, said the experience taught her that "all humans have basically the same needs."

The University provides the fifth most volunteers of any institution in the country, and Naasko said she "suspects interest will only increase."

Gould said that although domestic issues are very important, she doesn't think Peace Corps funding has to take away money from such programs.

"Having Peace Corps funding doesn't really take away from ... our domestic policies," Gould said.

Madigan said she does not foresee a major battle over the funding increase, adding that the Peace Corps is a widely accepted program.

"We have always received strong bi-partisan support in Congress," Madigan said. "Funding is always a challenge, but it's one we look forward to working on with Congress."

Six current members of Congress who served in the Peace Corps all said they support the funding increase. Seth Amgott, a spokesperson for Rep. Christopher Shays, (R-Conn.) who served in Fiji, said Shays will support the new plan when it comes to the House of Representatives.

"Chris will work very hard with a bi-partisan coalition and (Peace Corps) Director (Mark) Gearan to get this passed," Amgott said.

The budget increase will probably go to support new programs and aid recruiting efforts, Madigan said.

"This allows us to send out more volunteers and respond to new requests for volunteers," Madigan said.

Naasko said the funding could help to restart the recently closed Peace Corps recruiting site at Michigan State University.

The Peace Corps opened new programs in South Africa and Jordan last year and they have plans to begin sending volunteers to Bangladesh, Mozambique, and the Republic of Georgia in 1998.

01-28-98