Is the U.S. Public Service Academy a Reality?

The first 100 days of the Obama administration could see the approval of a new public service academy fashioned after West Point but designed to produce professionals in homeland security, education, energy, and foreign service. The U.S. Public Service Academy is the brainchild of Chris Asch, who says legislation will be introduced to create the new school and that Obama has pledged his support. "He has said he would sign it if it came to his desk," says Asch, who describes Obama as "gung-ho" on it. He compared the Public Service Academy's work to that of the Peace Corps, and he even has a home for it in Washington: Walter Reed Army Medical Center, slated to shutter in 2011.