Fewer Than 100 Turn Out For Explanation on Draft

The present draft program under the Selective Service Act of 1948 and its implications for students were discussed in detail by Major Paul Feeney, manpower area chief of the Massachusetts Selective Service, in the New Lecture Hall last night.

Fewer than 100 persons attended the talk on "Armed Forces and Selective Service," the seventh in the Student Placement Office's annual Conference on Careers.

Dean Leighton remarked that the turnout was disappointing since the program had been moved from the Union common room, where it was originally scheduled, in anticipation of a larger crowd than turned out.

Feeney explained the difference between a postponement, which only puts off induction into service until the end of an academic year, and a deferment, which places a person in a draft-exempt category. In the latter case, the student must be reclassified before he is eligible to be called for military service.

The Massachusetts state board has recommended that local boards defer college students on three bases, Feeney said. They must have completed their freshman year, be in the upper half of their class, and intend to continue their college career. He added that the local boards were not obligated to issue deferments for these reasons.

The professors of Science and Tactics of the three College R.O.T.C. units-Captain Douglas V. Gladding of the Navy, Colonel Charles P. Summerall of the Army, and Major Jarvis R. Kingston of the Air Force, were also present to outline the programs of their units.

Dean Bender was moderator of the discussion which included Lieutenant George Henderson, from the Boston office of Naval Officer Procurement; Captain William Lott, Air Force Public Information Officer for the New England Recruiting Area; and Major W. Bruce Pirnie '51, who represented the reserves.