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Counseling Center Advises Youth On Selective Service

Counseling Center Advises Youth On Selective Service image
Parent Issue
Day
11
Month
March
Year
1969
Copyright
Copyright Protected
Rights Held By
Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
OCR Text

Counseling Center Advises Youths On Selective Service

By Pat Materka
(News Staff Reporter)

Soon after he entered the University last fall, an 18-year-old freshman routinely applied for his 2-S student deferment. His draft board responded immediately.

It sent him a rating of 1-A.

This was punctuated two days later by an induction notice. In a near panic, the student contacted the Draft Counseling Center.
“We explained to the youth that induction would be illegal on three counts,” says the Rev. Ronald Tipton, draft counselor. “In the first place, any college freshman is eligible for a student deferment, and draft boards are required by law to grant them to anyone who qualifies. It isn’t optional. There must also be 30, not two, days between notification of 1-A status and induction.

Besides that, it’s illegal to draft 18-year-olds!” It turned out that the boy’s father was a veteran military man who believed the Army would help his i grow up. He requested that son be inducted.

“We aren’t here to foster draft-dodging or help men do anything illegal,” Tipton declares. “The majority of people who come here want to understand the system so they can work within it.”

Draft counseling had been going on at several locations in Ann Arbor for most of this decade, but since 1965 the demand for the services has escalated right along with the Vietnam War. On March 4 last year, the different centers consolidated their efforts and opened one office at the Baptist Campus Center, 502 W. Huron.

As Baptist student minister, Tipton helps coordinate the approximately 30 clergymen, professors and students who man the center from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. daily. Between March 4 and Dec. 31, 1968, a total of 1,883 counseling sessions were logged, and by now the figure is estimated far past 2,000.

“Some can take care of their problem in one visit; others drop by several times before they are sure what action they want to take. The average visitor is college age and hasn’t yet been inducted. He falls into three categories,” says Tipton.

“—One, he’s seeking some other classification withn the system. Many young men about to be graduated will lose the 2-S rating and want to know how to go about getting an occupational deferment. Others want to know what is entailed in being a ‘conscientious objector’.

“—Two, the person may dealing with some procederal matter such as how to appeal rejection for an occupational deferment, or an other treatment they feel is unfair or illegal.

“—Three, a minority of people who come here are considering options outside the system, such as leaving the country or going to prison. They want know what the implications for such a choice are.”

Most of these are questions that can be answered be answered by the Ann Arbor Selective Service Board at 103 E. Liberty, but the personnel there cannot handle the large number of men seeking information, the minister says. Also, the majority are U-M students who are registered with draft boards in ther home cites, miles away.

Frequently people inquire if the Peace Corps is an option. “Time can be a problem,” Tip-ton explains. “Occupatonal deferments are likely to be granted, but the volunteer cannot apply for one until he has received his work assignment. This may not come until weeks or months after he signs up. and by this time he may have already received his induction notice.”

Then consider the young married father who is about to be graduated and loses his 2-S student deferment. The classification 3-A defers registrants for “extreme hardships” ... or a child or children.” However, draft laws state than any-one granted a 2-S deferment prior to the June 30, 1967, is ineligible for a 3-A.

“In other words, a man would have been better off maintaining 1-A status, and then claiming fatherhood exemption if he gets drafted, than he would be to hold a 2-S deferment which he automatically loses if he flunks out or graduates.”

A person who applies for, say, an occupational deferment and is turned down by his local board may appeal it on the state level. The time this takes may vary from a few months to over year, and, could in rare cases remain unsettled until after the appellant’s 26th birthday. (Currently, eligible men are drafted in order of age priority as follows: 25, 24, 23, 22, 21, 20, 19, 26, 27, etc.) If his appeal is denied, but there is at least one vote on the five-member state board in his favor, he can take his case to the Presidential Appeals Board.

When is comes to procedural matters, such as how to determine one’s draft status, change it, or appeal, the answers are all spelled out in black and white. They are defined in more than 50 leaflets and paperbacks on a book rack at the door of the draft counseling office, under titles ranging from “The Power of Non-Violence’ to “Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada.”

But for the young man seeking classification as a conscientious objector, there are no pre-packagd rules or clearly set qualifications. The counselor’s first task is helping the “CO” determine if he is one.

“To be recognized as a CO, the law requires that one must the grounds of religious training and belief, be opposed to war in any form,” Tipton plains, “but ‘religious training and belief is nowhere defined.” A phrase refering to relationship to a Supreme Being was deleted the Military Selective Service Act of 1967, so there is now reference to God or an organized church. At the same time, the law stipulates that religious training and belief” may not include “political, sociological or philosophical views, or a merely personal moral code.”

“It’s an extremely arbitrary matter. Ultimately, one’s classification as a CO depends on the way be conveys his beliefs to his local board.”

Tipton points out that a conscientious objector is not exempt from service to the U. S. Rated 1-A-O, he is eligible for military service in G non-combat position, such as a medic. A person who rejects any part of the military program and is rated 1-0 or 1-W would serve two years of alternate civilian service, approved by his local board, “contributing to the maintenance of national health, safety or interest.” In the latter case “he is considered conscripted for two years at a low salary,” Tipton said. “There is an attempt on the part of many local boards to find particularly menial jobs for CO’s.”

One factor that complicates the draft counselor’s efforts is that "many men come to see us pretty late in the game.” The Counseling Center would like to reach more high school students to help them understand the options within and without the military system as soon as they become eligible for it.

Tipton compares the range of Selective Service classifications, and regulations to the income tax laws. “The government provides deductions, but the overage taxpayer doesn’t know about or understand all of them so he doesn’t take advantage and may end up paying m o than he needs to. You have understand the rules before you play the game.”