The United States federal government should increase the number of Peace Corps volunteers serving in and providing sustainable Agriculture. The case argues that there are more than 800 million people suffering from hunger and hunger related causes. (Christopher Matthews. Media Relations. FAO. Online. www.fao.org.) As the demand for proper nutrition in developing countries around the world goes unmet millions of people, majority of which are children, are dying. (United Nations World Food Programme.) The current total number of Peace Corps volunteers is 7,800; half of the 14,000 that Bush hoped for by this year in 2002. The lack of volunteers to meet the international demand is purely due to the lack of funding. Last year President Bush had requested a 9% increase in funding but Congress had lessened that to a mere 1% increase. (The National Peace Corps Association. Online. www.rpcv.org.) The plan demands that the federal government pass the Peace Corps Charter for the 21st Century Act as a law; by doing so the financial needs of the Peace Corps will be met therefore allowing the Peace Corps to increase volunteer membership.

PLAN: (1) The United States federal government will pass the Peace Corps Charter for the 21st Century Act.

The Affirmative team reserves the right to define terms if challenged by the negative.

DEFINITIONF OF TERMS

Establish:

“to introduce a law and put it into force.”

Source:2006 Baylor Briefs

Substantial:

“greatestst part or most part.”

Source:2006 Baylor Briefs

1. There is a significant need for an increase in funding for Peace Corps agricultural programs.

1. Without agriculture programs teaching food security many other problems arise other than the obvious food insecurity. It has been proven that International Hunger shares a cause and effect relationship with HIV and AIDS.

                        >In addition to that, the worst problem is the fact that the drugs given to AIDS patients rely on good nutrition. If the patient does not have food in the stomach, they tend to suffer in great pain and nausea. In a case study reported in the British Journal hungry people are six times more likely to die when going on AIDS medication than those with good nutrition. (Going Hungry with Aids.CBS News. Nov 12, 2006.) As stated before AIDS shares responsibility in food insecurity however a vicious cycle is created because with out food AIDS is not being taken care of by the proper methods designed.

2. The current level of funding cannot meet the demands of the Peace Corps. Budgetary constraints limit amount of selected applicants and leave many countries on a waiting list for volunteers.

Donald Eberly. 2006 National Center for Policy Analysis. Online. www.debate-central.org. In order to increase its number of volunteers Peace Corps needs more funding.  Many more Americans want to serve than there are opportunities.  This year only 36 percent of the people who applied to the Peace Corps were accepted.  Over 182,000 volunteers have served in the Peace Corps since the beginning, but many more qualified applicants applied and were not able to serve because of inadequate funds.   Currently congress supplies the Peace Corps with $319 million a year.  In February 2006, President Bush proposed to increase the Peace Corps budget to $337 million a year which would allow the Peace Corps to gradually expand the number of volunteers to 7,900 and open two new posts. 

3. On top of that, Congress supplies Peace Corps with funding far below the Presidents requested levels.

Workability 

2. Passing the Peace Corps Charter for the 21st Century Act as a law is the best way to gain the funding required for Peace Corps to increase volunteers.
   
   
   
   1. The act as law will require that Congress supply Peace Corps with needed funding.

SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3(b)(1) of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2502(b)(1)) is amended—

                                                (2) by inserting before the period the following: ‘‘,$465,000,000 for fiscal year 2004, $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2005, $560,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, and $560,000,000 for fiscal year 2007’’.

(b) INCREASE IN PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER STRENGTH.—Section 3(c) of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2502(c)) is amended by adding the following new subsection at the end thereof:

‘‘(d) In addition to the amounts authorized to be appropriated in this section, there are authorized to be appropriated such additional sums as may be necessary to achieve a volunteer corps of 15,000 as soon as practicable taking into account the security of volunteers and the effectiveness of country programs.’’

5% of Americans say that they will not travel overseas in the next six months due to terrorism or war.

CBSnewspoll; War 5 Americans travel plans. (February 24,2003.)(This is before we attacked Iraq.)

3. It is essential for the Peace Corps to strengthen because the Peace Corps is the best resource for addressing and eventually eliminating the tribulations that are prominent in undeveloped countries.

A.  The Peace Corps does not just fix problems such as famine but it provides long-term results that leave those they are helping with the tools and knowledge for future success.

                        B. There is no reason for the Peace Corps to be denied the right to expand. Expanding the number of volunteers does not harm the US rather it benefits the country. This is done by helping us achieve a greater understanding of America abroad, in acting in places where there are people who are unfamiliar with or hostile to American values.

                        >The US is able to establish good standings with countries that are currently susceptible to the terrorist minds of the world today.                     

Donald Eberly. 2006 National Center for Policy Analysis. Online. More Peace Corp volunteers means more representatives for the United States who promote cooperation and friendship with other nations.  While volunteers are currently serving in 71 nations, Peace Corps has reported as many as 20 additional countries are requesting volunteers.  In this time when freedom is threatened at home and abroad, it is worth harkening back to Peace Corps's founding and then having our country make the difficult but necessary commitment to reinvigorate this "best face of America."  Advancing a positive image of the United States will aid relations with other nations enhancing security.

We Lost to Bishop Connoly. They were okay. During the entire debate they focused mostly on the national debt. They're contructives were not long. During them they briefly attacked our solvency our topicality and the fact that Peace Corps puts volunteers in danger. They did not attack all stock issues and only pressed on those two. They focused only on the debt and quickly ventured off the stock issues, however they apparently brought them up long enough to win.

We definitely need to learn to argue our stock issues harder and work out some bugs...if anyone finds some more of those "bugs" I’d more than appreciative to accept some positive critiquing, Thanks.

Tobias barrington wolff, (Prof., Law, Sanford law school), IOWA LAW REVIEW, May 04, 1648-1649. In the case of doctors and psycotherapists, there is not even a formal pretense of general confidentiality, and agy soliders speak about their sexual identities to healt-care professionals at their peril.indeed, some military commanders instruct doctors and therapist that they are required to report any solider who speaks about being gay during treatment, and soliders are regularly investigated and discharged when doctors or therapist report conversation in which soliders speak about being gay. in one remarkable incedent in 2001, am airforce air man sought the assistance of a military psychiatrist after a civilian raped him. the psychiatrist announced that the airman must be gay if he allowed himself to be raped, and he threatened to out the soldier to his command if he spoke about baing gay during their threaphy session.

 How do you allow yourself to be raped?

 Cross Examination: TFA

Q: How much money will the teachers be recieving annually?

Q: Where will this money be comming from?

Q: What will the requirements be?

Q: How will the "teachers" be trained?

Q: Is there currently a teach for America?

Q: What is the current enlistment annually in Teach for America?

Q: Will this plan take away the jobs of average teachers since according to your plan there is no pay and school would therefore be gaining money?

Q: Will this not ultimately lead to an increase in poverty?

Cross Ex Questions:

Q. What are your requirements?

Q.How will your plan increase the number of people in americorps?

Q.What do you consider a poor city?

Q. Why is there a shortage of teachers in a poorer city?

Q.What will make new teachers out of college come to the poorer cities?

Q.When you stated in your plan that the new teachers were not qualified, are you talkin about the new teachers that you want to come in or the teachers that are presently there?

Q.What is your inherent barrier?

Q. What would attract people to become a teacher IF the current pay is so much less then other jobs?

Q.How will you plan help control the classs room?

Q. How do you know that the teachers will act professionally?

Topicality

You did not define your terms that go to the resolution and I dont see how you are creating a policy which you are suppose to be doing.

Need

There is no need for you plan because there isnt a shortage of teacher in the present school system.

Inherency

I think you need to change you whole inherent barrier. What i got out of your inherent barrier is that becomming a teacher is arggrivating.

*Future teachers don’t want to teach because it is frustrating. 

       Evidence- Teaching may be frustrating when one is dealing with unmotivated or disrespectful students. Teachers must cope with unruly behavior and violence in the schools. Teachers may experience stress in dealing with large classes, students from disadvantaged or multicultural backgrounds, or heavy workloads.

How would this make people want to become a teacherr?

and also...

Future teachers can make more money elsewhere.

        Evidence- throughout the nation the average earnings of workers with at least four years of college are now over 50 percent higher than the average earnings of a teacher. Source: http://www.nea.org/edstats/losingground.html

o       Teachers- $30,000
o       Police Pubic Information Officer-  $67,184
o       Small Business Owner- $233,600
o       Computer science grads- $ 50,500
o       Chemical engineering grads- $56,000

this would not convice people to want to become teachers instead they would want to join another profession. I think that you inherent barrier is working against you instead of working for you. I would highly suggest that you change you inhert barrier.

overr all your plan is good you just need to fill in the blanks. but I really like your ideas that you have and it seems like it could work.

Topicality:

There is no topicality section.  The terms are not defined leaving all of the definitions to be questioned.  I would highly reccommend that you include defintions that favor your plan because otherwise, the negative can only assume they mean something in favor of their arguments, and not yours.

Need:

Evidence- Currently, a large number of temporary teachers work at rural schools. Ministry figures show that at least 500,000 teachers who do not have certificates taught at primary and middle rural schools in 2004, accounting for 10 percent of the total rural teachers.

^ I dont see this relevency to your plan.  If you simply state a position and give evidence to it, you then have to explain why it is important.

Evidence - In urban districts, close to 50 percent of newcomers flee the profession during their first five years of teaching.

^ This is not showing a lack in teachers because it's saying that 1/2 of the teachers who start teaching leave during their first five years, but this doesnt show that there is a lack of teachers working.  For example, if there were a teacher who began teaching in 2000 and then quit in 2002, there would be another teacher starting in 2002 and quitting in 2004 and so on and so forth.

   Observation- The new teachers are not qualified teacher, lack of academic achievement, and/or flunked the teacher’s state test.

Evidence- Department of Education figures show that about one in four high school math teachers and one in five high school science teachers lack a major or minor in their fields.

^ Your observation does not directly connect with your evidence.  Your evidence simply states that a certain amount of teachers lack a major, however, it does not say that they failed their exams because you can't be a certified teacher without passing.

Observation- Poor and minority students are much less likely than other students to have teachers with a college major in the subject they're teaching. Better teachers tend to migrate to more affluent schools. They lack of attention to these realities and their consequences for poor students.

^ there is no evidence to this observation and it doesn't seem to make sense.

Inherency:

Technically, your inherent barrier is not valid because it only says that the job is frustrating and therefore there is a shortage.  However, there is an increasing job flow in doctors, lawyers, etc., all jobs of which are equally if not more stressfull. This argument doesn't make sense.  Just because a job is stressfull, it does not mean that the job will not be taken up, which does not justify the barrier.  Also, the barrier must be a law or the will of the people.  If you're going to use an attitudinal barrier, make sure you say "my inherent barrier is attitudinal"  and THEN give your evidence.

Workability:

With an increase in personell, you need an increase in funding.  However, your plan does not mention this at all.  Nor does it point out where specifically the money will go and how the teachers would get located, etc.

 thanks for those five lines justin. =]

going off of justin's post. It's true, by eliminating dont ask dont tell and adopting another policy to allow homosexuals to serve openly in the military you are not making a guarantee in increase.  actually, it wouldn't necessarily be an increase because you are simply decreasing the number of persons leaving the military not an increase in the number of persons comming in, as implied. Plus, it could actually decrease the number of persons serving who are homophobes.

I researched a couple plans off http://www.debate-central.com, and I have to say, not many of them are comprehensive.

The Fire Corps plan - A branch of the Citizen Corps, the Fire Corps will create an ad campaign to promote volunteer firefighting. The current inherency includes funding and depleting volunteers.

an advantage of back pains are causing suffering all over the world.  And that if there plan went into effect chiroprators would be boosted and jobs would open up, ending back pains across the planet

Ex-Felon working in AmeriCorps to decrease their sentence.

Increasing the Coast Guard to support seaports from terrorist attacks.

Champagne,

I would contact Representative Marty Meehan if I were you and ask if he is intending to introduce that legislation on January 8th.  His website is http://www.house.gov/meehan/ and his email is martin.meehan@mail.house.gov. 

His office phone numbers are:

Capitol Hill Office
U.S. House of Representatives
2229 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3411
Fax: (202) 226-0771
TTY: (202) 225-1904

Haverhill District Office
Haverhill City Hall
2nd Floor, Room 201 A
4 Summer Street
Haverhill, MA 01830
Phone: (978) 521-1845
Fax: (978) 521-1843

Lowell District Office
11 Kearney Square
Lowell, MA 01852
Phone: (978) 459-0101
Fax: (978) 459-1907

Lawrence District Office
305 Essex Street., 4th Floor
Lawrence, MA 01840
Phone: (978) 681-6200
Fax: (978) 682-6070

Need:

Our plan is needed because there is a significant threat that we will be hit with an asteroid called Apophis, and when it hits, the impact will be equivalent to 1480 megatons of TNT, which is clearly a substantial problem.

“On Thursday, December 23, scientists announced that a space rock named 2004 MN4, or Apophis, had about a 1-in-300 chance of striking Earth on April 13, 2029. As recorded by NASA, this was actually a 1-in 266 chance of striking Earth.  On Friday, the risk was upgraded as more observations rolled in. The asteroid was given an unprecedented risk rating of 4 on the Torino Scale, which means it warrants careful monitoring. The odds at various times were put at 1-in-63 and 1-in-45.  As of Monday, the chances of an impact on April 13, 2029 stood at about 1-in-40, or 2.6 percent.”

What this is saying, is the risk of the asteroid hitting continuously increased.

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/asteroid_update_041227.html

“However, initial observations indicated a relatively large probability that it would strike the Earth in 2029.  Additional observations provided improved predictions that eliminated the possibility of an impact on Earth or the Moon in 2029. However there remained a possibility that during the 2029 close encounter with Earth, Apophis would pass through a "gravitational keyhole", a precise region in space no more than about 400 meters across, that would set up a future impact on April 13, 2036. This possibility kept the asteroid at Level 1 on the Torino impact hazard scale until August 2006.”

This is saying the chances of Apophis hitting in 2029 are close to none.  However, if this asteroid goes through the proposed “gravitational keyhole” it could be catastrophic.

“This plan is so necessary that The Planetary Society is offering a $50,000 prize for the best plan to put a tracking device on or near the asteroid”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis

“Scientists call for plans to change asteroid's path Developing technology could take decades.”

“NASA initially estimated the energy that Apophis would have released if it impacted Earth as the equivalent of 1480 megatons of TNT.  The impacts which created the Barringer Crater or caused the Tunguska event are estimated to be in the 10-20 megaton range. The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa was the equivalent of roughly 200 megatons.”

The Barringer Crater which was only roughly 10 megatons is a 35 mile crater.  Imagine what 1480 megatons of TNT could do.  This is not something that we can risk, which is why our plan is necessary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis

[Also]

“NASA has estimated that an impact from Apophis, which has an outside chance of hitting the Earth in 2036, would release more than 100,000 times the energy released in the nuclear blast over Hiroshima. Thousands of square kilometers would be directly affected by the blast but the whole of the Earth would see the effects of the dust released into the atmosphere.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/space/article/0,14493,1660485,00.html

There is also a high need for our plan because time is running out.  After we hit a certain time, there will virtually be no time left to construct a plan in order to prepare ourselves or potentially eliminate the possibility of the Earth getting hit.

“Scientists insist there is actually very little time left to decide. At a recent meeting of experts in near-Earth objects (NEOs) in London, scientists said it could take decades to design, test and build the required technology to deflect the asteroid.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/space/article/0,14493,1660485,00.html

Our plan, in a sense, would not be wasting any money because either way, the United States- as well as the rest of the world, needs to conduct a plan in order to prepare ourselves for a case like this because it will happen.

“Monica Grady, an expert in meteorites at the Open University, said: "It's a question of when, not if, a near Earth object collides with Earth. Many of the smaller objects break up when they reach the Earth's atmosphere and have no impact. However, a NEO larger than 1km [wide] will collide with Earth every few hundred thousand years and a NEO larger than 6km, which could cause mass extinction, will collide with Earth every hundred million years. We are over-due for a big one."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/space/article/0,14493,1660485,00.html

Workability:

The workability for this plan is joining NASA and the Armed Forces together to eliminate the chances of being hit by Apophis. DARPA will also be teaming up with the two other organizations to create new technology to diminish the problem.

Money to make this plan work is not an issue because NASA’s fiscal budget is 16.8 billion dollars for the year 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA

DARPA also collects 3.2 billion annually. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darpa

We would be using this money in addition to the budget of the Armed Forces. They collect   441.6 billion yearly. http://en.wikipedia.org/armedforces

Solvency:

Our plan is solving the problem presented because by combining NASA with the Air Force and bringing in the help of DARPA, we are essentially abolishing Apophis, which abandons the thought of catastrophe and potentially an impact winter, which could lead to extinction events.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_winter

Inherent Barrier:

I Hope This Helps

A: Congress has provided funds through the Citizen Corps program to the States and Territories. Grants from these funds may be available to local communities to start CERT programs. Contact your State Citizen Corps point of contact to learn more about grant possibilities.

Also, there are a variety of local approaches to funding. Some communities build costs into their local budget while others charge participants to attend training to cover costs for instructors and course materials. In a few communities, CERT organizations have formed 501 (C) 3 for non-profit status to allow them to do fundraising and seek corporate donations.

https://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/faq.shtm#funded