Harvard 'Draft Expert' Enlists, Dispenses Sage Advice in Report

Russell S. Beecher '64, of the Office for Graduate and Career Plans, will enter the Coast Guard's Officer Candidate School next week. For the past year and a half, he has been Harvard's draft "expert", so expert that he discovered his impending draft notice ahead of time and enlisted in the Coast Guard.

Because his extensive knowledge of the current selective service setup is for the time being irreplacable, Beecher has written a farewell address to Harvard's prospective, if somewhat reluctant, troops. Despite a deadly title, "The Relationship of Students and Universities to the Selective Service System," the report is an incisive guid to the mysteries of the draft.

The grasp of the selective service system's complications displayed in the report does not reveal Beecher's personal uncertainty about the equity of current draft arrangements. But it is his belief that as long as the system is set up as it is, college students should be aware of their rights under it as well as their responsibilities. Many of the rights, even the most basic ones, go unexercised only because students are unaware of them.

The appeal is an important example. A student has "the right and obligation" to appeal a 1-A classification within ten days after it is mailed, the report says. "But appeals are rarely used because people aren't aware they have such rights open to them," Beecher explains. "More often than not, they forfeit the rights by just not using them."

Many students according to Beecher, accept their 1-A classification with a shrug of resignation even though they completely fit the requirements for 2-S. This is particularly chilling in light of the report's revelation that some local boards are sending 1-A classification to all their students in order to determine who is 2-S on the basis of the expected appeals.

"It's pretty obvious that some fellows at Harvard just accept these classifications," Beecher says. "They say 'that's the way it goes' and don't appeal. They're either resigned or just ignorant of their rights. Or they may be involved at the time and say 'I'll take care of it in a few days'. But you can't take care of it in a few days. You have only ten days from the time they mail it to you."

That's why he insists that students immediately inform their local boards of any changes in address.

"The California boards occasionally send their notices by surface mail. Beecher explains. "In several cases, the boys who have not informed their boards of a change in address have gotten them after the ten days allowed for appeal. This was the boy's responsibility under the law."

It is the student's, and not his boards', responsibility to protect his 2-S classification, Beecher adds. Filing a 109 form is the most important thing to do, but there are some lesser known steps that should also be taken.

One is immediately mailing graduate school acceptances to local draft boards. "I suspect most students are not aware of this. For seniors, it is of utmost importance," Beecher says.

Another misunderstood feature of the draft, the 1-SC classification, takes up a page of the report. "There's been a lot of confusion about it," Beecher explains. "A 1-SC comes simultaneously with induction orders and at no other time. It says in effect, 'you're drafted, but because you are a full time student, you may finish the full year in school.'"

Beecher describes the 1-SC classification as a student's last chance before induction, since at the end of the school year he can again appeal in light of improved grades or graduate acceptance. But he stresses that only one 1-SC is allowed to any student during his school career.

As draft advisor, Beecher has thoroughly investigated the "other" types of deferments--psychological and conscientious objection.

"Appeals for 1-Y on psychological grounds are more common around Harvard than the average student realizes, if for no other reason than the facilities are here," Beecher explains.

As for the recently publicized attempts at conscientious objection deferments, Beecher admits that, "I've had requests about them, but usually in the form 'Im not sure about conscientious objection, but what do I do if I am sure."

Beecher reckons that actual requests for deferments for conscientious objection are less common at Harvard than those for psychological problems.

All in all, according to Beecher, a student must realize that his local board has complete, autonomous control over his status, and he must act accordingly. For example, he must notify his board any time he leaves the country, not just on extended fellowships but for summer trips too.

Beecher is careful to point out that his report is not a draft dodger's guide to escaping 1-A. As the report says, "The officials of the selective service have decided that education is important and that the pursuit of education constitutes an excellent use and development of the human resources of the nation."

He explains that he expressed it this way because he is not personally convinced that the present draft setup is the most equitable, or that the pursuit of education is important enough to merit deferment.

"I just don't know. The more you think about it, the more difficult it becomes to decide," Beecher says. "Universal military training after high school seems to be, at least theoretically, an excellent alternative. But there are so many complications on the practical level, in terms of using that many troops at a given time."

"All the national test is going to do," Beecher added, "is basically, rate students on their ability, and take the least able students. The assumption is that the more able students will be more productive in school. I'm not sure the assumption is correct."

"You operate under a system in which you have rights as well as responsibilities,' Beecher says of his report. "It isn't very fair to you, or the system, if you exercise only one half of this combination."