Speculation ran high in Cambridge yesterday as the full implications of President Roosevelt's Saturday night request for universal manpower conscription reached University officials and the estimated 25 percent of civilian undergraduates who are classified 4F by Selective Service.

Dean Hanford pledged that "the College will certainly cooperate whole heatedly with any plan which may be worked out, and will, as in the past, do its part in the total war effort." He emphasized that the situation is extremely indefinite at the present time, and expressed the desire that students avoid anxiety until the issue becomes more clearly defined.

Elliott Perkins '23, director of the War Service Bureau, said that he was "still puzzling about it." In the event that Congress enacts the service draft proposal into law, Perkins feels that his War Service Office may well be able to act as an advisory body in the placement of 4Fs in industry. He remarked that "no matter how hard you study, you aren't going to affect the war."

Morgan Not Perturbed

Despite the fact the 55 percent of the students at the Law School are 4F, Acting Dean Edmund M. Morgan '02 voiced little concern. "Many of the men would not be fit for any kind of service." he asserted, adding that the School has faced more drastic reductions in the past than any which may be forthcoming.

Administrative personnel at War Manpower Commission headquarters denied any knowledge of future possibilities for college men, but hinted that in view of past policy the prospects are not encouraging. "I see no reason why a student should be treated any differently than anyone else," stated Boston Area Director Leon J. Kowal, while James Walsh, Assistant to the State Director, said that "the 4Fs have not to give in to the production army. The time we need them is now, and the fact that a fellow's going to college will work neither for nor against him. If the bill is enacted, it will be no more of a blow to college 4Fs than to brewery workers or night club employees."