About one-fifth of Harvard's undergraduates favor a declaration of war, two-fifths favor repeal of the Neutrality Act, two-thirds think there is no objection to President Conant's speaking his mind on the world crisis, and almost three-fifths think that they should not be drafted until after graduation.
These are the results of a poll published in the "Undergraduate" department of the current Alumni Bulletin. With a sampling technique along the lines of the Gallup, Fortune, and other polls, this survey has a probable error of about five per cent.
The poll reveals that Harvard students are more interventionist than the rest of the country, at least as far as an actual declaration of war is concerned. A recent Gallup poll showed that 17 per cent of the nation favored a declaration of war, while this survey shows Harvard's figure is five points higher--23 per cent.
If this poll is compared with that of the CRIMSON taken last February, a decided shift in opinion at Harvard is revealed. At that time only one-twentieth of the students favored outright war, and as a matter of fact, by a 51 to 49 per cent margin, the undergraduates believed we should not go to war no matter what the circumstances. But only 16.4 per cent thought we could stay out, and 62.5 per cent said we would be in the war eventually.
The questions and results follow:
(1) Do you favor an immediate declaration of war? (2) Do you think that the Neutrality Act should be repealed, modified, or left unchanged? (3) Do you think that as a matter of principle the President of Harvard should express in public his views on the world crisis? (4) Do you think that students should be exempted from military service until the end of their undergraduate careers?
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