Beecher Suggests Reserve Enlistment

Russell, S. Beecher '64, assistant director of the Office for Graduate and career Plans and an expert on the draft, enlisted yesterday when it became obvious that he would soon be drafted.

Beecher, who is 23 and has been married for over a year, enrolled in the United States Coast Guard for a three and a half year hitch yesterday morning.

A resident of Massachusetts. Beecher did he had called his draft board in September and knew that he would be called up soon. His application to the coast Guard took three months in processing and he admits that if he didn't known he was going to be called up in advance, he wouldn't have time to apply.

When asked by an official of the Selective Services to rip up his old draftard. Beecher inquired if he could burn his instead.

"One of the things Harvard students who are considering reserve programs should know is that many of them have long waiting lists. The Coast Guard six month reserve already has a two year waiting list and the Massachusetts National Guard no longer accepts enlistees," Beecher explained.

"It isn't too early for freshmen and sophomores to start thinking about their Service," Beecher continues. He advised underclassmen who do not plan to go to graduate school to get their names on some of the reserve program waiting lists.

The lists create no obligation, he said, to join any of the programs. He added that juniors and seniors would do well to look into officer training programs before they are drafted.

"No one helps themselves by turning their back on the draft issue. I inspected all the possibilities open to me and choose the branch which suited me best," Beecher said. His training will soon begin in Yorktown, Va.

The war in Vietnam has caused a quite significant increase in the number of students planning to go to graduate school next year, Beecher said. Judging from questionnaires issued at this year's registration, Beecher predicts that 80-90 per cent of the class of 1966 will apply to Graduate

Over the last four years there has been a steady increase, four per cent a year, in the number of students applying for graduate school. In 1962, 65 per cent of the senior class applied, while 71 per cent of the students in the class of 1965 were applicants.

The percentage of students planning millitary service immediately after Harvard has dropped from 14 per cent in 1962 to 8 per cent in 1965. Beecher said. This year, Beecher expects a slight rise in enlistments; students who know they do not want to go to graduate school are apt to enlist to avoid being drafted.

Beecher anticipates a drop in the number of students taking jobs after graduation, and expects an increase in students going into teaching and the Peace Corps.