COLLEGE CORPS

When President Clinton released his National Service Plan while speaking at the University of New Orleans more than a month ago, his words were optimistic and ambitious.

But many people--including members of the Harvard community--have since voiced criticism about the proposed community service program.

Participants in the program would spend one or two years on community service projects in the fields of education, human services, the environment or public safety. For each year of service, a student would receive $5,000 to help pay for college, graduate school or work-training tuition.

"National service will mark the start of a new era for America, in which every citizen...can become an agent of change, armed with the knowledge and experience that a college education brings," Clinton said in his April 30 New Orleans speech.

Ethan Zindler '92-'94, a spokesperson for the program, said his office hopes the bill will be debated by Congress within the next few months. In the meantime, Zindler and his colleagues will have to put to rest the doubts about the plan that have surfaced over the past month.

The doubts center mainly on money. Deficit hawks on Capitol Hill say the program is too generous and costly, while some students and university officials argue for a more extravagant plan that would have offered a greater incentive for students to take time off for service.

Some lawmakers object to the minimum-wage stipend that participants would receive under the current plan. This money would supplement the $5,000 students would also be given per year of service to help pay for college tuition.

Sen. Dave Durenberger (R-Minn.) has reportedly said he worried that students would view the plan as a way to make college affordable--even though it will only help about 1 percent of the nation's college students.

At Harvard, members of both the Harvard-Radcliffe Republican Club (HRRC) and Phillips Brooks House (PBH) have expressed doubts about the plan.

Toby N. Romer '94, vice president of PBH, the student public service organization said that while the plan was "philosophically a great opportunity" to encourage more students to do community service, he thinks the magnitude of the program as planned is too small. In other words, he said, the National Service Plan seems to involve a lot of public relations and relatively little action.

Toby also said that the plan is flawed because it does not consider the students who are spending a lot of time on community service during college.

Rather than create more expensive programs that require students to take time off--such as City Year--Romer said he thinks Clinton should put more money into college financial aid. This aid would be "contingent on doing service while at college, through existent programs."

Romer said that his opintions do not necessarily reflect those of other PBH officials, and that the group has no official stand on the issue.

HRRC members disagreed with the plan for other reasons.

"It's not my responsibility to pay for someone else's college education," said President Karen F. Boyle '94. She said that the program, which would be run with taxpayers' money, was an infringement on her right of property.

David C. Bunker '93, immediate past-president of the Harvard-Radcliffe College Democrats, disagreed.

"It's not in our economic interest to let smart, bright people be unemployed," he said. Given a college education, "they might contribute to the country."

Boyle also said that while she agreed that the concept of increasing activism and volunteerism among students is a good idea, paying them for their work "takes away what volunteerism is."

HRC Vice President Tom Woods '94 raised the concern that the community service completed under the plan would not be useful.

"People will be doing jobs that do not need doing because unions will complain about unfair competition," he said.

Zindler denied this, saying that labor unions have given the program strong support because many of them are not filled and need more employees.

He also said there are great community needs--such as parental education on children's health--that are not being met by current service programs. The National Service Plan could address these needs, Zindler said.

If Congress passes the program. Zindler said 25,000 students should participate in the National Service Plan in 1994. Eventually, planners hope it will expand to include about 150,000 participants.

"We feel pretty good about where we are," he said. "We've been working really hard to get bipartisan support."

Under the current plan, participants would receive health and child care benefits in addition to at least minimum wage and the $5,000 per year tuition credit.