U.S. To Implement Draft/Aid Linkage

The controversial law linking financial aid and draft registration will definitely go into effect for the upcoming school year, following months of legal uncertainty, a highranking Department of Education official confirmed last night.

The official, who insisted on anonymity, said that pending expected confirmation by Secretary Terrell Bell into last night the Department would today send a letter to colleges and universities, indicating that no federal financial aid could be distributed without the recipient telling the educational institution that he had registered for the draft.

Implementation of the law, dubbed the Solomon Amendment for its sponsor Rep. Gerald Solomon (R-N.Y.), was uncertain after federal district court Judge Donald D. Alsop in St. Paul invalidated the legislation in March. Alsop ruled that the law in unconstitutional because it violates citizens' rights for a fair trial and against self-incrimination.

However, the Supreme Court issued an indefinite stay Thursday, allowing the government to implement the law until the justices could rule on the legislation's constitutionality--probably within the year. The Court did not comment on the stay.

Even after the Supreme Court decision Thursday, colleges and universities were still unsure whether the Department would actually implement the law for the 1983-84 school year. Officials had thought that the government might delay implementation for the upcoming year owing to the little time left before the opening of schools.

But the Education Department official said last night that the Department would announce in the letter today that institutions would have to mail questionaire forms to students scheduled to receive aid for this year and who have not already responded to queries about their draft status. The Department would give schools an extension of a month to have the responses in their files before dispensing aid, according to the official, because of the delay that the injunction caused. Schools that violate the law could face fines, he said.

Complying

College Director or Financial Aid James S. Miller said last night that while Harvard had hoped the law would be delayed, they would comply with the law once the Department had sent from guidelines to carry it out. "We would have liked about six months but I guess we'll implement it," he said.

The decision to carry out the law on schedule came as a "surprise" to financial aid officials, Miller said. It will cause "problems" administratively incollecting the data in such a short time and cause a "further imposition on students lives which we try to avoid," he added.

Vice President and General Counsel Daniel Steiner '54 said that the University will want until receiving the Department of Education letter before deciding officially whether to make up financial and to those non registrants affected by the new Law. Dean of the Faculty Henry Rosovsky earlier this year hinted that the University might give market rate loans and jobs to those who would lose aid.

College financial aid officials have "zero iden" how many of the approximately 4500 federal financial and recipients are non-registrants, Miller said

Audit

According to federal regulations revised in April, the Department of Education will verify the validity of the students' claim that they have registered during routine financial aid auditing visits to Harvard next year. The Department will have that responsibility for the next two school years before colleges and universities will be forced to ask students for verification from the Selective Service.

The Court's action is "a tragic mistake because the law is clearly unconstitutional and should not be carried out indefinitely." Jim Miller, a lawyer for the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group, which brought the successful case in district court before the Supreme Court stay, said yesterday Miller added that he was still "hopeful" about the eventual result, even though the Court ruled for the stay.

Expert

A constitutional law expert at the Law School added that the court's decision does not necessarily mean that the justices would rule that the law was constitutional. However, Professor of Law Richard D Parker said that the thought that the court would rule for the government because of a Burger Court trend both to allow the government to institute conditions on citizens benefits and to be deferential to the executive branch on matters of national security.

Solomon Amendement foes have intensified their efforts on Capitol Hill in the wake of the Court decision. Currently, there are two House bills calling for a delay in implementation and one in the Senate, as well as one on each side mandating a repeal of the legislation. A staffer from the Education subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources--where both senate bills are being held--said that while there was some support for the measures, there was only "a limited possibility" that the bills would pass. Any possible legislation would be subject to a probable President Reagan veto.

New Non-Registrant List

In an unrelated development, the Selective Service gave the Justice Department the names of 70,000 non-registrants for prosecution. The list is the largest handed over since the Justice Department began actively prosecuting non-registrants over a year ago.

Before this week, the Justice Department had about 6,000 names, of which 15 had been indicted and six had been convicted, Joan Lamb, a Selective Service Spokesman said yesterday. In two of the cases, district court judges have ruled registration unconstitutional. The government has appealed both cases in federal appeals court