A prep course for the month-long World Cup soccer tournament, a worldwide pheno

oming Soon To Communities Everywhere , '' says the advertisement , which White H

ouse officials hope will be as effective at getting participants for national se

rvice as Smokey Bear has been at reducing forest fires . AmeriCorps is the presi

dent 's signature domestic peace corps program . It will send young Americans in

to communities across the country starting in September to `` get things done ''

 like immunizing infants , tutoring teens and making schools and neighborhoods s

afe . In return , workers expected to number 20,000 the first year will receive 

a low wage , health benefits and stipends of $ 4,725 for each year of service th

at they can use for education or training . Even though 60,000 people have calle

d to inquire about signing up for the program , Eli Segal , the president 's nat

ional service czar , is a little nervous . `` If we throw a party and no one com

es , then we haven't thrown a party , '' Segal said . To make sure that does not

 happen , the Corporation for National Service , the independent agency Segal he

ads , has begun a sales campaign . The first step was coming up with a logo , an

d that meant the `` 30-something '' agency officials had to design a logo cool e

nough to appeal to those in their teens and 20s . The corporation chose a design

 featuring a letter `` A '' swimming in a gold sun , encircled with the words : 

`` AmeriCorps National Service '' in blue block print . After emblazoning the lo

go on T-shirts , badges , patches and bumper stickers , it was time to take the 

campaign on the road to college campuses . To promote the visits , the corporati

on enlisted rap artist L.L. . Cool J . In a public service announcement recorded

 for college radio stations , he urges students : `` Find out how you can be one

 of the 20,000 young people committed to rebuilding our communities . AmeriCorps

 , the new national service movement that will get things done . '' Then Clinton

 administration officials , accompanied by rock or rap groups , hit the campuses

 of the University of California , Los Angeles , Harvard University , the Univer

sity of Minnesota and Morehouse College in Atlanta last month . Smaller events a

nnouncing AmeriCorps took place at 50 other campuses . Segal also gave his pitch

 to national magazines from Elle to Rolling Stone to Money , hoping they would h

elp launch national service by running articles in their September editions . Ne

gotiations are under way with Ogilvy and Mather Worldwide to have that top adver

tising agency design public service announcements for radio and television . Pop

ular bands are being asked to talk up the program at concerts through the summer

 . And the administration is trying to set up partnerships between local TV stat

ions and AmeriCorps projects in their area , so they can keep viewers informed o

f what workers are accomplishing . ( Optional add end ) This emphasis on accompl

ishment is important because for the program to expand or continue to exist afte

r the first few years Segal will have to be able to show Congress that it is hav

ing a real impact . Segal said he has some concern that the campaign will create

 such demand that many interested young people will be turned away from the prog

ram . On the other hand , he said , he does enjoy entertaining the thought that 

his `` product '' could end up being as popular as the `` Cabbage Patch Kids '' 

doll craze . Advertising campaigns for federal programs serve dual goals . One i

s to stimulate people to do what the government wants . The other is to sell the

 impression to the public that the government doing what it promised it would do

 . For that reason , it is perhaps more than coincidence that Clinton figures so

 largely in public service ads being distributed to magazines and newspapers acr

oss the country for publication . `` We always start with the assumption that th

is would not happen if Bill Clinton was not the president of the United States ,

 '' Segal said . `` What is unique about this is that the president of the Unite

d States is so committed to it . ''

 The following editorial appeared in Thursday 's Washington Post : Majorities of

 both houses of Congress have signed onto bills that would make it harder to imp

ose additional unfunded federal mandates on state and local governments . It sou

nds like a simple enough thing to do , and the bare minimum in terms of intergov

ernmental fairness . Why should the feds be allowed to impose obligations and pr

iorities on the state and local sector without the funds to match ? But it isn't

 that simple ; nor is it clear that these bills would always produce good public

 policy . Carelessly drawn , they could easily do a lot of harm . The Senate Gov

ernmental Affairs Committee is at work on the issue . Here are some of the probl

ems it has encountered : . ( 1 ) The leading bills are described as if they were

 bans on unfunded mandates . That 's what members seem to think and to claim the

y are sponsoring . In fact , it isn't possible for one Congress to bind the next

 , or even to bind itself . The bills would merely require an explicit vote in o

rder to impose such a mandate . That 's not a bad idea a form of truth-in-legisl

ation but even it can present complications . ( 2 ) There 's a question of which

 mandates the sponsors mean to include . The civil-rights laws impose certain co

sts on the states ; the recent Americans With Disabilities Act is a prime exampl

e . The leading bills originally included the civil-rights statutes ; now it 's 

been pretty well agreed that they should be dropped . There 's no similar agreem

ent , however , with regard to labor laws . If Congress raises the minimum wage 

, should it take a separate vote to cover state and local government ? Health an

d safety legislation is another category . Should there be a presumption in the 

law that state and local governments are entitled to federal aid in order to com

ply with health and safety standards when private employers are not ? ( 3 ) How 

do you count up the costs of a mandate , and from what starting point ? Aggrieve

d state and local officials want the bill to cover only future increments in cos

ts , locking present costs and aid into place . But what if the federal governme

nt is already giving more in aid in a certain area construction of drinking-wate

r-treatment facilities , for example than it is requiring on the margin . Do the

 feds get a credit when they pay for more than they demand ? Do they get a credi

t for the tax subsidies given state and local governments-the deduction for stat

e and local income taxes , for example , or the exemption of interest on state a

nd local government bonds ? The feds now pay 57 percent of the cost of Medicaid 

, the states the rest . What if Congress wanted to cut the federal share to 55 p

ercent still well over half the cost of a program that would otherwise fall to t

he state and local sector entirely-and use the savings for something else ? Coul

d it do so without a vote on the `` mandate '' it was imposing ? ( 4 ) There 's 

a huge problem as well in terms of the congressional committee structure . Most 

of the authorizing committees that produce new legislation have no control over 

the funding of their creations , which lies with the appropriators . The authori

zers thus have no power to guarantee when a bill comes to the floor that it will

 be funded . Do they take power from the appropriators or cede it ? Congress is 

currently set up in such a way that to require it not to enact unfunded mandates

 may be to require it not to legislate at all . Is that what the proponents want

 ?

 In its 1916 decree creating the National Park Service , Congress explicitly out

lined two goals : Preserve the designated sites `` unimpaired for the enjoyment 

of future generations , '' and provide for the public enjoyment of those resourc

es . The conflict between preservation and access has forced a creative tension 

on the Park Service since its first days . Achieving balance grows more difficul

t each year . As challenging as the mission is , the two goals are not contradic

tory , particularly when one focuses on the nature of the genuine park visitor e

xperience . The national parks are not about entertainment ; Disney , Warner Bro

thers and others are masters at that task , and park rangers need not compete wi

th them . Rather , rangers facilitate the American people 's encounter with thei

r heritage . The challenge is in bringing the visitor to a more intense apprecia

tion of the natural world . This framework sets new and clear parameters on meth

ods for accommodating more visitors . Despite annual increases in visitation , f

or example , the Park Service will not be in the road-building business . Roads 

disrupt , divide and fragment natural systems that are the very reason for parks

 ; our challenge is in finding new means of visitor transport . We will not be i

n the hotel-building business , but will instead work with owners of lands borde

ring parks so that many overnight needs can be met in gateway communities . Thes

e communities can also serve as `` staging '' areas , where visitors can learn o

f a park 's facilities , collect materials and shop all without adding to the mi

lling crowds inside . Likewise , the service must consider different methods for

 protecting its resource base , because it is no longer enough to focus on the n

ature of developments within the park . We must begin to focus on parks not as d

istinct entities , but as the centers of ecosystems . At Yellowstone , massive h

erds of elk and buffalo ( and soon , perhaps , gray wolves ) do not acknowledge 

the straight lines on a map ; those animals inherited an entire ecosystem , and 

park staff must work closely with resource managers from other state and federal

 agencies to protect their migration range . Everglades National Park is part of

 a natural system being killed by the invasion of exotic plants ( caused by nutr

ient-rich agricultural runoff ) and the diversion of water for residential and c

ommercial uses . That park 's fate lies not in the hands of its rangers , but in

 a massive , multi-agency effort to restore the system . Sequoia National Park h

as air-quality problems worse than many large cities , but the problems ' source

 lies in faraway industrial centers along the California coast and in the Centra

l Valley . Clearly , it is no longer sufficient to label land a park and assume 

it is protected . Protecting the resource base also means continuing the search 

for new sites , because America 's history and perspectives are always changing 

. Fifty years ago , there was no Martin Luther King Jr. . Historical Site to be 

preserved , because that chapter in our history had not yet been written . A cen

tury ago , we crossed the Midwest in search of scenic splendor , oblivious to th

e extraordinary biodiversity being plowed up and taken for granted . The new eff

ort to create a park in the Kansas tall-grass prairie finally acknowledges the i

mportance of that resource . Generations in search of alpine scenery simply walk

ed on by some of America 's most unique ecosystems . One of those regions would 

be protected by the California Desert Protection Act , ushered through the Senat

e by Sen. Dianne Feinstein , D-Calif . Unsurpassed in its scenic , biological , 

cultural and recreational significance , the desert has been ignored too long . 

Finally , protection of the resource requires a sounder financial base . A first

 step would be congressional action to restore discretion to the Interior secret

ary to set reasonable park entrance fees . Currently , only three of the 367 Par

k Service sites charge $ 10 per vehicle , only 15 charge as much as $ 5 per car 

and Yellowstone 's entrance fee is less today than it was in 1915 . In addition 

, Congress can provide collection incentives to park managers by returning to th

e park half the money collected above the current base . Though beset by fundame

ntal problems , the welcome sign is out at our national parks , because the Nati

onal Park Service can fill a unique and immediate role . We are within decades o

f an environmental collapse on this planet . Our urgent task is to communicate t

o the American people what it means to live more lightly and respectfully on the

 land . Any contemplation of our role in developing and teaching a new conservat

ion ethic leads directly back to the national parks . The parks are where this t

ask is easiest , where the educational process begins , where it is all so extra

ordinarily fresh , obvious and overwhelming . The national parks must serve as t

he gateway to the conservation ethic , because if that gateway can't be crossed 

in our national parks , it can't be crossed anywhere .

 NEW YORK A Reworked Craig Lucas-Craig Carnelia musical , a new play by Joyce Ca

rol Oates and a drama by Steven Dietz that had a brief run here last winter will

 be part of Circle Repertory Company 's 1994-95 season . The season opener in Oc

tober will be `` Three Postcards '' by the two Craigs Lucas ( author ) and Carne

lia ( composer-lyricist ) . The musical , first produced at Playwrights Horizons

 in 1987 , was one that a Circle Rep director , Tee Scatuorchio , `` had always 

wanted to work on , '' said artistic director Tanya Berezin . Scatuorchio was pr

eparing a Circle Rep Lab production , she said , `` and had some questions for C

raig Lucas , which inspired some rewrites . So this is really a reworked version

 , '' rather than a revival , which Circle Rep rarely stages . The show focuses 

on three girlhood friends who reunite in a restaurant and , amid the usual chatt

er , begin revealing more about themselves than they intend . The other two show

s that are definite for the season do not yet have time slots . Berezin said she

 hopes Dietz ' `` Lonely Planet '' will have the same director , Leonard Foglia 

, and the same cast as the Barrow Group production that ran during last winter '

s snowstorms . Denis O' Hare and Mark Shannon played two men grappling with issu

es such as anti-gay bias and AIDS . Oates ' play , `` The Truthteller , '' is ``

 high comedy '' reminiscent of Oscar Wilde , Berezin said . Gloria Muzio will di

rect . `` Basically , it 's about the value of the family , even if the family i

s dysfunctional . '' The family in question decides to be totally honest after a

 tape recording reveals how phony everyone has been . The bottom line : Honesty 

doesn't always pay . Casting began this week for `` Das Barbecu , '' expected to

 be one of Off-Broadway 's major productions in the fall . The musical by Jim Lu

igs ( book and lyrics ) and Scott Warrender ( music ) is a country-western show 

by way of Richard Wagner , no stranger to onstage barbecues . It has already had

 productions in Seattle ; Chester , Conn. ; Baltimore ; Sarasota , Fla. ; and , 

of course , Dallas . Christopher Ashley will direct and Eduardo Sicangco will ha

ndle sets and costumes . Producing will be some of the industry 's most active p

resenters : Thomas Viertel , Steven Baruch , Richard Frankel , Dasha Epstein , F

ox Theatricals , Margery Klain and Daryl Roth . No theater or specific dates are

 set . Paul Rudnick 's latest play , `` The Naked Truth , '' doesn't officially 

open until June 16 , but it is already officially headed for a larger venue afte

r the run at the WPA Theater ends in July . The producers , the Baruch-Viertel-F

rankel group from `` Das Barbecu , '' plus Jujamcyn Theaters and Scott Rudin , a

re veterans of Broadway , and that 's not ruled out as a destination . Directing

 `` The Naked Truth '' is Christopher Ashley , who staged Rudnick 's earlier hit

 , `` Jeffrey . '' The move will probably come in late summer-early fall , depen

ding on Ashley 's schedule . In addition to `` Das Barbecu '' and `` The Naked T

ruth , '' he 's directing the film version of `` Jeffrey . '' We haven't heard m

uch in New York from playwright Cheryl L. West since `` Before It Hits Home '' w

as staged in March 1992 , at the Public Theater . But she 's been busy elsewhere

 and , before too long , we may get to see her highly acclaimed new play . At th

e moment , West is adapting `` Before It Hits Home '' for a planned Spike Lee mo

vie . The script , which deals with a black family facing a son 's death from AI

DS , is due in a few months , West said recently from her home in Champaign , Il

l. . Meanwhile , she said she hopes to visit New York soon to talk about her lat

est play , `` Holiday Heart , '' which was co-produced earlier this year by Syra

cuse Stage , Cleveland Play House and Seattle Rep . There has been New York inte

rest , she said , but declined specifics . Once again , the subject is family . 

The holiday heart of the title is a wise , warmhearted drag queen who takes in a

 12-year-old girl abandoned by her drug-addict mother . `` There 's all kind of 

family , '' West said . `` I thought , ` Let 's put these unlikely characters to

gether and see what happens. ' ' ' Lincoln Center Theater saved Eric Bogosian 's

 `` subUrbia '' for the last slot in its Festival of New American Plays . Good t

iming ! Now , with the reviews in and raves fairly consistent , the play about w

asted youth in the suburbs can take a summer-long lease on the Mitzi Newhouse Th

eater . The closing has been moved to Aug. 28 . A further extension may be possi

ble , depending on when the fall season 's first production opens . The play is 

Tom Stoppard 's `` Hapgood , '' and the timing of that one depends on the availa

bility of its star , Stockard Channing . Charles Busch is dragging out some of h

is gowns and some of his friends for a one-night gender-bending gala . The event

 , `` Charles Busch 's Dressing Up ! , '' will be staged June 24 at Town Hall . 

Busch will host the evening and perform . He 's also persuaded drag diva Charles

 Pierce to come out of retirement to spoof `` Sunset Boulevard . '' Randy Allen 

will recreate Marilyn Monroe and Ira Siff will appear in his most famous persona

 , prima ballerinaVera Galupe-Borszkh . In the interest of equality , comedienne

 Louise DuArt will perform from her repertoire of impressions that includes Geor

ge Burns and Woody Allen .

 Rachel , Rebecca and Julia are girls . That 's obvious . Or is it ? They 're 10

 years old . Their dark hair is short , their legs muscular , their chests flat 

. They 're soccer players , really good soccer players , and they dress the part

 running shorts , T-shirts , cleats . They 're also smart , funny , exuberant an

d brimming with the self-esteem and camaraderie organized athletics has given th

em . But , as they have recently learned , some people consider their profile an

d their gender to be mutually exclusive . It began as one of those silly sidelin

e rumors ; the opposing ( and losing ) team was said to have complained that Rac

hel , Rebecca and Julia were not , in fact , girls but boys posing as girls . Th

eir parents , teammates and coaches were , of course , incredulous . Rachel 's m

other , hoping to dismiss the rumor as just that , approached a man on the other

 side and inquired as to the existence of such a laughable claim . `` I think it

 's revolting , '' was all the man said . At first , she thought the man might b

e referring to the absurdity of the gossip . But his gruff tone and huffy demean

or quickly set her straight . He was revolted by the sickening sight of those th

ree transvestites those 10-year-olds in drag ! Well , Rachel happens to be my ni

ece . And having changed her diaper on numerous occasions , I can attest to her 

femaleness . Moreover , having watched her first decade of growth , I can say th

at one of Rachel 's many outstanding qualities is that she is who she is stubbor

nly , gloriously honest and individualistic . Many a time have I rejoiced in how

 miraculously immune she is to the insidious effects of stereotypes of any kind 

. She can be loud and tough and aggressive ; she can be quiet and gentle and boo

kish . She is always herself . She is also pretty insightful . Her summation of 

the charge against her : `` It 's so stupid . '' Rachel 's mother ( my sister ) 

and I have attempted to probe the nature of this stupidity . Does it mean that g

irls still must be frilly and physically inept to be `` real '' girls ? Does it 

mean that if they are close-cropped and athletically skilled they must not be gi

rls at all ? I keep thinking of Donald Trump 's comment on the Native Americans 

whose business acumen is rapidly edging him out of the casino business : `` They

 don't look like Indians , '' he fumed . Translation : They don't look like the 

stock characters we 've been conditioned to expect , and/or there 's got to be s

ome hidden and unscrupulous explanation for their astounding success . Anyone wh

o 's got kids in organized sports knows what a fascinating social laboratory the

 sidelines can be , parental competitiveness being one of the more explosive ( a

nd ugly ) chemical reactions to routinely take place there . But one heartening 

observation I 've made during my many hours in the lab this spring is that there

 is , in fact , a burgeoning population of Rachels , Rebeccas and Julias girl at

hletes who do defy the traditional female profile . But they 're too numerous an

d too well integrated into their social milieu to be tossed off as `` tomboys ''

 or any other eccentric subset . The `` revolted '' man on the opposing team isn

't the only one who 's failed to come to terms with this phenomenon . Even my si

ster and I , who grew up when team sports were an exclusively male domain and we

 girls were consigned to cheering from the sidelines in our frosted lipstick , r

an into trouble . We found ourselves seeking to affirm Rachel 's femaleness by p

ointing out that she had just enthusiastically selected a fancy bridesmaid dress

 and her first low-heeled pumps . And maybe , we added , if she 'd been wearing 

her earrings ( they 're prohibited during play ) , this wouldn't have happened .