Is This the Return of Altruism?

Here's an interesting article (from NYTimes.com) on a possible new trend: that of graduates choosing public service over the more recently popular money-making fields like business and law. An excerpt:

   Renewed interest in public service is visible across the country. Applications for AmeriCorps positions have nearly tripled to 258,829 in 2010 from 91,399 in 2008. The number of applicants for Teach for America climbed 32 percent last year, to a record 46,359. Organizations like Harvard’s Center for Public Interest Careers have been overwhelmed — and overjoyed — with the swelling demand from talented 20-somethings.
   Several factors probably contributed to these phenomena. Perhaps President Obama indeed made public service “cool” as he had promised during his presidential campaign. Some experts say millennials — those who grew up in the 1990s or the 21st century — are unusually big-hearted, maybe because of the community service requirements they had in school.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/business/02graduates.html?_r=1&sq=undergraduates%20non-profit%20jobs%20recent&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=1&adxnnlx=1300820472-vjkbrazcUyi+GGLi31DLGg