Alex Ely, a senior at the College of William and Mary, recently wrote an article for the student newspaper on his campus titled “Facing decline, our generation must return to public service.” Alex does a great job in describing the current state of affairs in our country and also describing the sentiments of the young people of this nation. He paints a somewhat bleak picture of future prospects for college graduates. Alex pinpoints the fact that most college graduates are almost forced into private sector jobs, such as those in consulting and finance, because they have student loans that they must repay. The pressures of repayment and the lure of private sector benefits easily draw graduates away from a public sector that is currently in a dismal state because of the failures that have led to the financial crisis. The financial crisis is just one of many reasons that Alex cites which result in an overwhelming distrust in government, which dissuades indiv

Starbucks has joined with GOOD– “a collaboration of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits pushing the world forward.” This new partnership is producing a series of GOOD Sheets which are produced weekly and address a major issue that we are facing today. The 10th GOOD Sheet is the “National Service” Sheet and it features former President John F. Kennedy and various volunteer statistics and ways you can join the service movement. This series is exclusively available at participating Starbucks Coffee Company locations and aims to “help make sense of the world around us.” Make sure you pick one up next time you are grabbing a cup of coffee!

The U.S. Public Service Academy recognizes the momentum building behind the national service movement and while much work is to be done, the year 2009 is our year! We hope you will join the service movement and support these exciting and challenging tasks ahead of the U.S. Public Service Academy.

View the GOOD Sheet “National Service” here: http://awesome.goodmagazine.com/goodsheet/goodsheet010NationalService.html