1970

1971

SOUTHWORDS
April 1971

Selective Service manuals issued to schools
no author

   To provide high school educators and students with more advanced draft information, Cook County Schools Superintendent Robert Hanrahan has issued to the guidance counselors of all Cook County suburban high schools and junior colleges a Selective Service System Manual on the draft and legal alternatives to the draft.
    Mr. Reese, Career Counselor at Maine South, has received this material and it is available for "draft information" in the Career Resource Center.
    The manual or guide identifies the military obligations, legal opportunities and legal options for draft-age men. The section on legal alternatives to induction explains voluntary enlistment, deferments and exceptions. Illegal alternatives include refusing to cooperate, leaving the country and refusing to submit for induction. Of particular interest to Maine South senior boys is that "every male citizen must register with his local selective service board within five days following his 18th birthday."    The local Selective Service Board is located at 1920 Waukegan Road, Glenview, Illinois--Phone 729-0970. Each registrant must have with him some verification of birth drate.
    Another point of interest is deferment. Upon registration an 18-year-old high school student will normally be deferred until he graduates, ceases to pursue his school work satisfactorily or reaches the age of 20, whichever comes first.
    A college student, provided he is satisfactorily pursuing a full-time curriculum leading to a baccalaureate degree, can be deferred, upon request, until he graduates, reaches age 24, fails to advance with his class or drops out of school. A student pursuing a full-time course of study in a trade. Technical, vocational or business school will be deferred until he has completed his training or drops out of school. Likewise, a student pursuing a full-time course of study in a two-year junior college program or recognized apprenticeship program may be deferred until completion of his program.
    However, now pending is a Presidential request to end undergraduate deferments and, therefore, the above beyond-high-schoool educational deferments are subject to cancellation by Congress.
   A warning is also sounded: "Avoidance of military service is a serious action. It will almost certainly mean indictment and prosecution which are likely to result in a felony conviction and jail sentences. Unquestionably a young man's future will be seriously affected by such a decision."