European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 2, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Oday s is More skills oriented by James Brooke new York times a t 24, Lori Leonard is younger than Mostof her students at Chad University in the country s capital n  discipline is rarely a problem. After losing school years to civil War and a libyan invasion chadian Are serious students. They Are also delighted that an american has come All the Way from la Crescent Minn., to teach them English. Leonard is a Volunteer with the peace corps an enduring Aid program that captured America s fancy in the 1960s survived a fall from Grace in the 1970s, and now in the late 1980s, is poised for a new spurt of growth by 1992, the number of peace corps volunteers is to double to 10,000, from the existing level of 5,200. In the latest geographical expansion China announced in March that it would soon Welcome its first group of american volunteers probably about 100 teachers of High school and College English. But the greatest growth is to take place in Africa the continent that received the first peace corps volunteers in 1961. Today almost half of the volunteers worldwide work in 24 countries of sub saharan Africa. With 13 percent of official american Aid going to sub saharan Africa this year american diplomats in Africa say that the highly visible peace corps program in Africa helps to compensate for the Low Overall Aid Levels. Last fall the peace corps returned to Chad ending an eight year suspension due to the War. This summer volunteers Are to Start work in Guinea Bissau and Cape verde. The peace corps has evolved and matured since the pioneering Days in the 1960s when Young volunteers were hurried through training on College campuses and then dispatched to Remote third world villages. The modern Day peace corps was More skills oriented and had a touch of Gray in its hair a 25th anniversary publication said in 1986. Indeed the average age of a peace corps Volunteer has increased to 30 today from 24 in the 1960s. Today 9 percent of the volunteers Are Over 50. Among them Are such people As Marian Osborne of Phoenix Ariz a a photo health education specialist Marian Osborne in a tooth brushing session with kids at a Village in Thailand. Registered nurse and health education specialist who has been working with villagers in Thailand s poor northeastern Region. We Are trying to get As Many older volunteers As we can because they have the skills we need and because they command respect in developing countries Alexander w. Sinclair a peace corps spokesman said. In the 1960s, the average peace corps Volunteer was a Liberal arts graduate who taught English As a foreign language. Today the average Volunteer has a specialized skill such As agriculture fisheries forestry or water Supply. What appears not to have changed Over the decades is the mix of idealism wanderlust and curiosity about the third world that prompted 15,000 americans last year to apply for jobs that pay about $90 a week for two years. I guess i was going through a phase of rejecting get a Job get a car get an apartment Leonard said of her decision to fill out a peace corps application form during her senior year As an English literature major at St. Olaf College in Northfield Minn. One year later in october 1985, she found herself in Kinshasa Zaire staring at a set of travel directions to reach her Village Pindi. The experience was so fulfilling that Leonard volunteered for a second tour of duty with the peace corps. Erma Bombeck the bag War is ripping the United states apart. Ever since plastic bags sought to replace the traditional Brown bags the supermarket has been the Battleground of tension and infighting among the customers. Mothers and daughters Are facing off. Husbands and wives Are sleeping apart until the Issue is settled. Neighbors have added grocery bags to their list of subjects you never discuss just after religion politics and Roaches. There has t been such animosity among shoppers since a Man tried to take away a woman s tide on camera and substitute for it the new and improved formula a woman in Brooklyn categorized it As a National problem saying those Blank plastic supermarket bags Are jeopardizing life and limb. She wrote it s bad enough in Suburbia where there s at least a sporting Chance of getting groceries from the car to the Kitchen but in new York it s a Nightmare. We walk everywhere. Have you any idea what it s like to carry a roast beef half a gallon of milk a Jar of pickles and a Carton of ice Cream even three blocks never mind 10 blocks and four flights of stairs. After one Block the plastic bags have stretched Down to your Ankles just before they break when you re crossing a Street. New York traffic rules Are fairly simple. Anything left in the Street after the Light changes is considered fair game. I won t even repeat what surgeons said about what plastic bags do to your fingers. In a few cases people made it Home with everything intact Only to drop things from nerve damaged fingers those who oppose the traditional Brown bags Are just As Adamant. There s no place to grab a Brown bag. It s like putting a pair of shoes on a kid with no Bones in his leg said a shopper in Arizona. They just Flop around and go Limp on you. If you Don t double bag your groceries they rip apart and you have food All Over the trunk. The Only people i know who like Brown bags Are the no Talent women who still use them for halloween masks or who gift wrap their garbage in them. Besides can you use Brown bags to carry your Sun lotion and towels to the Beach i say nuke the Brown bag old habits die hard in this country. You just can t come in and revolutionize the Way women shop and expect them to play dead. I read where the marketing Guys Are fiddling around now with the grocery cart. They re going to make shopping More fun by installing a video screen near the kiddie seat to entertain and offer a few words from sponsors. This is a major Issue folks. We re losing our Basic supermarket freedoms. Let your voices be heard. C Mon people do we really know How Dukakis and Bush feel about this inquiring minds want to know. C 1988ermabombeck Page 16 the stars and stripes saturday july 2,1988