The possible penal aspects of the 1-A classification also became evident in the recent case in which the Ann Arbor, Mich. draft board reclassified students who had II-S (student) deferments to 1-A because the students held an anti-war sit-in in their local headquarters. The courts ruled the reclassification unconstitutional.

Miss Joan Lawler, the clerk at local draft board #17 in Cambridge, said a student with a II-S who turned in his draft card was recently reclassified 1-A because of Hershey's directive. She said he was the first registrant the board members allowed to have counsel with him at his personal interview. He is now exercising his right of appeal to the State Appeal Board.

The Cambridge draft board has a total registration of 21,908. It receives a call for approximately ten men each month. Miss Lawler said it has also seen a large increase in applications for I-O (conscientious objector) and 4-F (physically or mentally unfit) classifications over the time of the Korean conflict.

Each case for deferment is individually considered by the board members in terms of their definition of the "national interest." The Cambridge draft board has 733 men classified II-S. Under the new law, which went into effect on July 1, 1967, a student classified II-S will not be able to obtain a III-A (hardship) classification for fatherhood without also proving that his leaving the home would cause extreme hardship.

"Those who have I-SC's [temporary student deferments] until the end of the academic year usually get back their II-S deferments for the following year, but I wouldn't guarantee it for anybody next year," Miss Lawler said.

A classification of II-A, which now includes both occupational deferments and deferments for students in non-degree-granting institutions, is decided wholly by the local board members, although optional guidelines are given to them by the central office of the Selective Service System.

Miss Lawler indicate that a "large number" of the 150 men classified II-A by the Cambridge draft board were engineers working for companies with defense grants.

The Cambridge draft board doesn't have an easy time filling its monthly quotas. It's a rather sad place. The pale tan walls and the green filing cabinets lined up in careful rows look at you with a kind of quiet sterility. The wooden bench sitting outside the room, just sitting and waiting, doesn't help any.