Evan Meyer, a returned volunteer who was stationed in Guatemala from 1994 to 1997 and agraduate student in international agriculture and rural development

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Guatemala: Peace Corps Guatemala: Peace Corps in Guatemala: Evan Meyer, a returned volunteer who was stationed in Guatemala from 1994 to 1997 and agraduate student in international agriculture and rural development

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Evan Meyer, a returned volunteer who was stationed in Guatemala from 1994 to 1997 and agraduate student in international agriculture and rural development



Evan Meyer, a returned volunteer who was stationed in Guatemala from 1994 to 1997 and agraduate student in international agriculture and rural development

Evan Meyer, a returned volunteer who was stationed in Guatemala from 1994 to 1997 and agraduate student in international agriculture and rural development

Peace Corps at CU is strong on 40th birthday

By Blaine P. Friedlander Jr.

It's been four decades of teaching improved pest management methods, or showing how to build stoves, or assimilating into remote developing-country communities and improving community health.

The U.S. Peace Corps is still around? Yes, says Evan Meyer, the Cornell campus Peace Corps recruiter, the organization still exists. It is as strong as ever.

Forty years ago today -- on March 1, 1961 -- President John F. Kennedy signed Executive Order 10924 establishing the organization. More than 161,000 Americans have joined it, serving in 134 nations. Currently, more than 7,000 Peace Corps volunteers serve in 76 countries.

In 1999, Cornell ranked 14th -- with 57 people -- among all universities supplying the corps with volunteers. In 1998, Cornell ranked eighth. Since the inception of the Peace Corps, Cornell has produced 476 volunteers.

Meyer, himself a returned volunteer who was stationed in Guatemala from 1994 to 1997 and a graduate student in international agriculture and rural development, says it is the toughest job he ever loved. Now he is Cornell's Peace Corps representative.

"My job isn't to pull in recruits by force. My job is to give people an idea of what life is like in the Peace Corps," he said. "I'm not trying to be pushy; I just want to make sure all the questions are answered."

The Peace Corps idea started on the presidential campaign trail in 1960 when then-candidate Kennedy gave an impromptu, 2 a.m. speech to 10,000 students at the University of Michigan. "How many of you who are going to be doctors are willing to spend your days in Ghana? Technicians or engineers, how many of you are willing to work in the foreign service and spend your lives traveling around the world? I think Americans are willing to contribute. But the effort must be far greater than we have ever made in the past," Kennedy said in his speech. From that call to service, the reality of the Peace Corps began to formulate.

Serving humanity became a theme in the Kennedy presidency. And his 1961 inaugural address was remembered for its call to action, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

In 1998, Cornell and the Peace Corps established a new degree program -- a three-year master's of professional studies degree in agriculture, with a Peace Corps service option. The program emphasizes studying the conservation of natural resources, sustainable farming systems and international development.

There are more than 20 universities offering the option with programs in agriculture, business, civil and environmental engineering, forestry, public policy/NGO development, public health, teaching and urban planning. Cornell joins three other universities in the agriculture master's program with the Peace Corps option.

Tonight, March 1, to celebrate the 40-year anniversary, the Peace Corps office at Cornell will hold an informational session at 7 p.m. in 401 Warren Hall. The session will include a video about the Peace Corps and presentations by three returned Peace Corps volunteers.

For more information, contact Evan Meyer at 255-7693 or by e-mail at peacecorps@cornell.edu.



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This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Guatemala

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