RECENTLY, A CHORUS of educators and lawmakers has cried out that the national needs to provide young people with more oppurtunities for public service. A myriad of local, national, and university programs, designed to increase the number of public service jobs and the funding for them, have been introduced over the past year.

To the proponents of these measures, which can have nothing but a positive impact on the nation--Thank you.

But to Rep. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.) and Sen. Gary Hart (D-Co.), who have proposed a mandatory draft of all 18 year olds into civil or military service--No thanks.

This well-intentioned plan not only violates civil liberties, but it is a false panacea which fails to address the root of the problems which Hart and Toricelli aim to solve.

A primary reason for the plan, Torricelli said Tuesday night at a speech at the Kennedy School, is to make sure our social programs don't stagnate because of lack of money. There is no constituency left to raise taxes, Torricelli explained, so America would substitute a draft of five million 18 year olds for a tax on all Americans.

But why can't we just raise taxes, which have been cut so drastically in this decade?

Look what happened to Walter Mondale, the last politician who told Americans he would raise taxes, the New Jersey Democrat said. When a member of the audience said he respected Mondale for that move, Torricelli responded, "I'm sure his wife and children respect him, too."

That's not leadership; it's evidence that lawmakers have given in to the Reagan reactionary movement. This country is the wealthiest on this planet, and there can be no excuse for not being able to provide enough money to aid the needy. Taxes should be raised, corporations should pay their fair share, and politicians should convince Americans that this is how things should be.

It is ironic that Torricelli wants to draft the spirit of citizenship of one group of Americans, 18-year-olds, because he is afraid to ask another, more powerful group to pay taxes.

By making the labor-for-tax argument the main reason behind the need for the universal draft program, Hart and Torricelli turn what could have been an attack on the Reagan right into a retreat.

The second argument for the measure is the values of citizenship it would teach all Americans.

THERE IS NO QUESTION that all Americans should heed the call of President John F. Kennedy '40 to ask what they can do for their country. It is also just as necessary that the country provide the means and oppurtunites for citizens to serve.

That's why it is heartening that President Derek C. Bok last year set aside one million dollars in a fund for students interested in volunteer community work and that last week he joined 74 other university presidents in endorsing a Brown University-based public service program.

A proposal by Rep. Leon E. Panetta (D-Cal.) will also help young Americans interested in volunteer work. He has proposed a National Youth Volunteer Act, which would grant matching funds to local public service programs. The bill, which is currently in a house subcommittee, has received the endorsement and support of President Bok.

But while serving the nation may be a valuable ingredient of citizenship, I doubt a mandatory volunteer is someone who will be receptive to learning citizenship values. We take out the garbage for our mother, but pretty begrudgingly, or I least I did. And if it's not your mother...