Anti-Draft Group Plans Turn-in, Burn-in, Rally

Vietnam war protestors will turn in draft cards at the Old West Church in Boston on November 16.

Michael Ferber 2G, spokesman for the New England Resistance, said at the group's first full meeting in Phillips Brooks House last night that cards will be turned in or burned in a service similar to the one held in the Arlington Street Church on Oct. 16.

Following the collection of draft cards, the group plans to confront Justice Department officials with a rally at the Federal Building in which the unburned cards will be surrendered.

Mark F. Gerzon '70 outlined the nature of the Resistance's activities, distinguishing between actual challenge of the Selective Service and protests like the one against the Dow Chemical Corporation on Oct. 25. He warned against a "dissipation of radical energy on campus" instead of aiming it directly at the Selective Service.

Gerzon called the Selective Service a "total enemy" quite different from the Dow Chemical Corporation, which is only partially involved in the war effort. He said that everyone who filled out Selective Service forms, or tried to evade induction, is "no less complicit than Harvard" until he resists the draft by refusing to carry a draft card.

Formation of a Harvard undergaduate branch of New England Restistance is planned to follow the November 16 demonstration, Gerzon said.

Ferber announced that singer Joan Baez has just given a "large donation" to the New England Resistance.