I thought this op-ed in the Badger Herald was great: http://badgerherald.com/oped/2009/01/27/service_emphasis_goo.php. Before I came to the U.S. Public Service Academy I did research through the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania, and one of the things I came across again and again is that social connectedness is linked with happiness.  Many psychological theorists have posited that the increasingly individualistic nature of American society has led to a decline in social connectedness and, perhaps, a “depression epidemic.” Money does not seem to make much of a difference in happiness levels once people are past a subsistence level: even as living standards rise, depression rates are stagnant or may increase.  Getting Americans and young people more involved in service is a way to make them more socially connected, less individualistic, and surprisingly, probably happier.