HUC Draft Referendum Is Today; Republican Club Rejects SDS Stand

Undergraduates will get the chance today to express their opinions on Harvard's present policy of computing rank-in-class for the Selective Service System.

The Harvard Undergraduate Council will distribute its poll on the draft at lunch and dinner in the Houses and at the Union.

HUC chairman Gregory B. Craig '67 said yesterday that the poll would be in no way binding on the University, but two campus political organizations, the Students for a Democratic Society and the Republican Club have registered complaints against it.

SDS last week voted to make the referendum binding on the University, and urged that students all vote "no" on the first question, which asks whether the Selective Service system should require universities to compute rank-in-class as a basis for 2-S deferment.

The Harvard Republican Club last night rejoined the SDS statement, urging all students to vote "yes" on question one.

Michael R. Merz '67, vice-president of the Republican Club, said last night that a binding referendum "would destroy the freedom of students who want to comply with the law."

"If the University refuses to compute a student's class rank," Merz said, "you can imagine how some East Texas draft board is going to treat the guy."

The poll results will be compiled by the HUC over Columbus Day and will be delivered subsequently to Dean Ford and to the Committee on Educational Policy.