DATE: Monday, September 15, 1997            TAG: 9709140007

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ERIKA REIF, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   58 lines

CORPS' MISSION, WORKERS HAVE CHANGED

JOINING THE Peace Corps used to be synonymous with liberal arts students fresh out of college ready and eager to change the world.

It promised volunteers mud huts and outdoor toilets. It meant using one's hands to start agricultural projects, build bridges and roads, and install water storage tanks.

It's not so much that way any more, said Clayton Drees, a former volunteer in Sierra Leone, West Africa, in the late 1970s. Now, volunteers often go to areas where homes are equipped with cable TV and cell phones.

``Nearly half going overseas are packing laptop computers,'' Drees said. ``When I went over, I packed candles because I knew I wasn't going to have electricity.''

The Peace Corps continues to recruit people with liberal arts backgrounds, but an emphasis during the past decade has been on volunteers with technical skills, said Peace Corps Director Mark D. Gearan.

Gearan, who was appointed by President Clinton in 1995, previously served as Clinton's director of communications and deputy White House chief of staff.

Gearan recently spoke to a group of students at the College of William and Mary, before appearing as keynote speaker at convocation ceremonies.

The seminar was in conjunction with a college course, ``Perspectives on Citizenship and Community.'' Students were required to read works by authors such as Shakespeare and Rousseau and tie the philosophies of those readings into the reality of 35 hours of community service required for the class.

Most of the students have done volunteer work outside the class requirement, and some will consider joining the Peace Corps, they said. When Gearan asked the students their majors, responses ranged from English to business to physics.

The background of Peace Corps volunteers has reflected a growing need for more specialized expertise since the corps was formed in 1961. On a $220 million budget and with nearly 7,000 volunteers, the corps has changed its focus since its mid-'60s heyday, when it had almost three times as many volunteers.

The Peace Corps' current emphasis is on education, with 38 percent of volunteers in that field. The most popular corps activity in the 87 host countries is teaching English, which is considered the international language of business and commerce.

Under Gearnan, a pilot program called ``Crisis Corps'' was established to help other countries during humanitarian crises or after natural disasters. The short-term assignments take advantage of the language and cross-cultural skills of former Peace Corps volunteers.

This year, corps volunteers ventured to South Africa for the first time to work with teachers. The corps' reach also expanded to Jordan, where volunteers are helping mostly women develop small businesses and eco-tourism. A program also will be started in Bangladesh this year, Gearan said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

PEACE CORPS

Peace Corps Director Mark D. Gearan is President Clinton's former

deputy White House chief of staff. KEYWORDS: PEACE CORPS

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