It’s been a pretty slow week in Washington — with Congress in recess, the rest of the kids want to go play, as well. We’re all looking forward to the Fourth and the attendant days of R-and-R (Aretha will be performing on the Mall, so my mom and sister and I are headed over to belt out R-E-S-P-E-C-T and laugh at my father’s dance moves).

In all seriousness, though, the Fourth’s a pretty good time to reflect on WHY the Public Service Academy and WHY now.  It was George Washington who first proposed the Academy, waaaay back when. And nearly every president has called American youth to service in one capacity or another. Building the Academy, fulfilling Washington’s dream, providing an outlet for sustained commitment to service — it’s the next step.  I’ll say it again: Get in touch with your Congressman or Rep. Write a letter to the editor. Let them know why the Academy is a good thing.

Until Monday, enjoy your barbeques! And take this quiz — you’ll love it. 

While the end of June often means just a countdown to the Fourth’s long weekend (two more days!) it’s a good time for other things as well. After all, we’re now halfway through 2009 — time to take stock of what’s happened so far.
It’s been a pretty good six months at the Academy. So far, we have:
1.) introduced the bill in the House of Representatives
2.) recruited a new lead Republican co-sponsor, Ander Crenshaw
3.) found a new champion in the Senate, Colorado Democrat Mark Udall
4.) seen two dozen op-eds and articles about the Academy written, including this feature on NBC News and this article in the New York Times
5.) made a stamp on new media — check us out on Twitter! Facebook!

And, of course, mid-year resolutions means midyear goals. For July 2009-December 2009 we would like to:
1.) Get the bill dropped in the Senate
2.) Hold hearings on the bill in the House
3.) Earn more endorsements and op-eds

What do you think about our goals? Want to help us reach them? Email me at Schwenk@uspublicserviceacademy.org to find out what’s the best way to help out.

Also, schedule an appointment to visit your rep at home this week! They’re all back in their districts to celebrate the Fourth, and now is great time to meet with them.

This article in the NYTimes last week pointed out a trend that’s un-ordinary but not unexpected The significant increase in applications that military academies saw last year. 

Seriously. West Point’s applicant pool went up 9.6 percent, the Naval Academy’s pool increased by 40 percent, the Air Force Academy’s went up by almost 10 percent. That’s thousands more high-school seniors vying to join the military academies, and an increase double of that at Harvard. 

The reasons the Times cited are complex: the recession made students and families more cognizant of the costs of college; a surge in patriotism and the desire to serve; the cooling of tensions in Iraq; even a better advertising campaign spearheaded by the military.

The second two don’t really apply to USPSA, but the economic and patriotic lines of reasoning were the most-supported in explaining the increase. These are the most abiding and most applicable. These numbers show where thousands of students in the U.S. are at–wanting to serve their country, but also cognizant of the economic reality. This year, it’s manifesting itself in increased military-service-academy applications. In a few years, once the bill passes, we’re confident that it will show in the number of students from all over the country applying to the Academy.