Which Career Will Be King?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Service Academy Parents
1

<p>With Finance Disgraced, Which Career Will Be King?</p>

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The economy, other long-range policy issues and the new administration, according to David Ellwood, dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, add up to a “benevolent perfect storm,” which could lure talented people to public service in a way not seen in decades.

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<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/weekinreview/12lohr.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&em%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/weekinreview/12lohr.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&em&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

2

<p>Hard to believe the NY Times didn’t mention military service as one of the top options for young people desiring public service.</p>

<p>Go figure.</p>

3

<p>I believe this was a newspaper article reporting factual information. You raise a good question though, is military enlistment on the rise? I do know that one part of President Obama’s National Service Plan included expanding the size of the US military. The article included the following example.</p>

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4

<p>It’s interesting how the traditional definition of words are changing. I spent 34 years in “public service” as mentioned in these articles. My four years in the Army was “Service” in which I served the needs of the country, did what I was told and went where I was sent. It was an obligation I felt and one in which I chose to undertake (while during the time of the draft, I enlisted). </p>

<p>My other years in a federal agency were positions I chose, places I wanted to be and jobs I desired to do. I never thought of that as “service” even though the career I was in was important, was appreciated, and desirable – but it was still a “government job.” My fear is that “public service” will become equated with “military service.” One way that happens is by positive expression in the media by those who wish to change the concept of “the government” (and thus, a “job” in government) from a negative to a positive image. It’s just not at all the same (a job in goverment vs. service in the military), by any stretch, in my opinion.</p>