Dream Team : Public service: The thread uniting nearly 1,000 Southland volunteers sworn in to AmeriCorps is idealism and the belief they can change things.

With an economics degree from UCLA and a resume laced with honors, 22-year-old Anna Ouroumian figures she could easily command a higher salary, complete with impressive business cards and a lofty title.

Instead, the young Glendale woman is content to spend this year working with a local anti-hunger project, earning a modest income.

Her co-workers will be people such as Garland Robinson of South Los Angeles, who temporarily put off a master’s degree to fulfill a lifelong dream of “working with the people.”

Along with thousands of others across the country, Ouroumian and Robinson have signed up for a “season of service” in AmeriCorps, President Clinton’s national service program. On Monday, the two gathered with nearly 1,000 other participants at the Universal Amphitheatre for the mass swearing-in of the nation’s first AmeriCorps class.

In Los Angeles, the one thread uniting an otherwise disparate group of AmeriCorps members--young and old, middle-class and poor--is an idealism reminiscent of a bygone era in American history: the belief that they can be the agents of change.

Like a domestic Peace Corps, the AmeriCorps members will combat problems ranging from hunger and crime to illiteracy and pollution.

“I’m interested in community empowerment and . . . showing people that things can be done,” said Ouroumian, who grew up in Glendale. “I know it sounds cliche-ish, but I believe anything is possible.”

At the ceremony, AmeriCorps members listened to a string of speeches--laced with words of encouragement and praise--by Mayor Richard Riordan, Police Chief Willie L. Williams and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros, as well as past and present members of other service organizations.

“AmeriCorps will rise or fall with your success this year,” Cisneros said.

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Speaking via satellite in a speech that was simulcast to AmeriCorps members nationwide, Clinton applauded members for their commitment to changing America and “getting things done.”

“Every generation in our history has learned to take responsibility for our future, and your generation is no exception,” Clinton said. “We look at you now, and we know you are no generation of slackers. Instead, you’re a generation of doers.”

For all its seriousness, the event--hosted by actor Andrew Shue, a star of the “Melrose Place” television series--felt like a pep rally at times, with members breaking out in impromptu chants (“We want Bill!”) and songs (“Lean on Me”) while waiting for the satellite hookup.

Performers Patti LaBelle, who donned a black AmeriCorps cap, and the R&B; group Immature brought the crowd to its feet.

“I like what you’re doing,” LaBelle said as the crowd cheered wildly. “Keep on striving for the positive things in life.”

The centerpiece of the event was the pledge that all AmeriCorps members took.

Standing in front of a screen, right hands held high, they listened to the words spoken by Clinton, then repeated them:

“I will get things done for America to make our people safer, smarter and healthier. I will bring Americans together, to strengthen our communities. Faced with apathy, I will take action. Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground. Faced with adversity, I will persevere. . . . “ In return for their pledge, they will receive a living stipend--often minimum wage, though some team leaders will make up to $1,200 a month--along with basic health insurance, a child-care allowance and a monetary award for college, vocational training or to pay off a previous educational loan.

Trial runs of the program this summer have received mixed reviews, and participants say they know the work will be difficult, especially for the pay they will receive. But for some, at least, the compensation is secondary to the life-changing experiences they expect to have during their year of service.

Robinson, for instance, sees his year as a way to help and to lay the foundation for a career in social work.

But with a degree in political science from USC, and no experience, he could not find anyone to hire him. “I asked, ‘How can I get the training if I’m not given a chance?’ ” he said. “I just wanted the chance to prove myself.”

A self-proclaimed “product of the ‘60s,” Robinson grew up on 27th Street between Central Avenue and Naomi Street and remembers “a brighter time in Los Angeles,” when people knew and cared for each other, he said.

Robinson, 44, has reason to believe in the possibility of change. In May he became the only one of his parents’ seven children to graduate from college.

“I have a story to tell because I’ve been there,” he said.

Like Robinson, who was active in student government and other organizations, many AmeriCorps members are no strangers to community work.

Ouroumian, who graduated magna cum laude from UCLA in June, spent her extra time outside the classroom planting trees at the Nickerson Gardens housing project, promoting environmental awareness, helping with earthquake relief and working with a number of service organizations.

Last year, she spent her summer break working with residents of the Pico-Union area, organizing community members in Summer of Service, the pilot program for AmeriCorps.

AmeriCorps is open to anyone over 17, including high school dropouts, college graduates, students and professional school graduates. Thus the program attracts individuals from varying backgrounds--some of whom might have been overlooked by other employers.

Before coming to this country four years ago, Mayra Perez volunteered with the American Red Cross, assisting the victims of war in her native El Salvador.

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A clerk at a shoe store, she is studying for her high-school equivalency degree and will spend her AmeriCorps year working with an anti-hunger project.

David Guizar, 21, was once in a gang and lost a brother in a gang killing. He will spend a year working in his neighborhood in South Los Angeles, trying to help the kinds of young people he once fought with and against.

“I finally got my chance,” Guizar said. “This is my first job. I’m part of staff. It feels pretty good, you know?”

Guizar will be working in the same program as Aqeela Sherrills, 25. When a fire at Jordan Downs housing projects sparked racial tension three years ago, Sherrills, a resident of Watts, stepped in and served as a mediator.

Sherrills will spend a year with Building Up Los Angeles, where he will work to establish tutoring programs, a public safety project, gang prevention and conflict mediation in the schools.

Beginning next week, 40 AmeriCorps workers--including Ouroumian, Robinson and Perez--will be added to the Interfaith Hunger Coalition, which administers anti-hunger programs in the region. Its annual budget of $320,000 will increase to more than $1 million.

One of the biggest assets AmeriCorps members will bring with them is familiarity with their communities, organizers say.

Along those lines, Robinson said he will offer a basic message to the people he works with:

“I understand and I am one of you,” he said. “I’m just a regular person who cares and wants to help.”