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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, May 7, 1968
Draft dodgers face harsh reality
By Joanna Wiebe Kansan Staff Reporter
They put Alexander Harlow Dewey in a solitary cell because they were afraid the other prisoners would beat him up. Dewey, a KU freshman in October, 1940, when he quietly refused to register for the draft, was charged with draft evasion and arrested in January of 1941.
Although he faced the same penalties young draft dodgers confront today—up to five years in jail and/or a $10,000 fine—there was far less tolerance of principled objection to the draft than there is in 1968.
The current of public sympathies concerning draft resisters is flowing in a different direction now than at that time. A young man who says, "Hell no, we won't go," is almost respected among certain segments of American society.
At KU, where a public forum between anti-war students and the administration is well-attended by sympathetic students and faculty members, and 20 English department staff members have signed a statement saying they would raise the grade of a student who would otherwise be drafted, there is certainly an increased toleration of the resistance movement.
"The moral strength is on the side of the resistance," declared Conrad J. Lynn, considered the nation's leading anti-draft attorney, in his book, "How to Stay Out of the Army." While he might be over-stating the case, especially considering the situation at KU, Lynn's statement does indicate a trend.
"Bible Belt" conservatism
This University, located in the heart of the "Bible Belt," and a stronghold of conservatism since the days of John Brown, has supplied many young men for "cannon fodder" over the past years.
At the same time the number of actual non-cooperators has been minimal. Young men are eager to debate their objections to the war and the draft in KU's auditoriums, in their living rooms or in the classroom, but it is a different and harder thing to put words into punishable actions.
It can radically alter a young man's life to say: "The draft system is inequitable, the war is unjust; I will return my draft card and refuse to cooperate with the system."
"I am a coward in submitting to the undemocratic Selective Service," a young KU student said earnestly this week. "I am a coward because I have obtained a conscientious objector classification."
He said he believes the present draft system completely negates the idea of free choice. The Vietnam war and America's high level of involvement in this war, coupled with the present draft system makes the United States a laughing-stock in the eyes of its citizens and the world, he added sadly.
No political motives
Another anti-war student describes his burning of his draft card about three months ago as a "conscience move without political motives."
The evening he burned his draft card in front of "about 50 sym-pathizers" he was "particularly depressed," he said.
"I was having a real thing about it. Knowing how I felt about the draft and the war, I didn't feel I could continue carrying that card and feel like a human being."
He didn't inform his local draft board of his action, however, and so apparently it was a meaningless and politically ineffective gesture.
"I'm going to tell them I lost my wallet and get another card," he said. "I'm afraid of jail—I've been in one of them already, and it's no camp."
He concluded that he would help the resistance more by harrassing the draft system than by being "incarcerated."
For many young men, it is the Vietnam war which has sparked their opposition to the draft. They believe the United States has no business being in Vietnam, and they will not fight in this particular war they consider unjust.
Runningz scared?
Others have a philosophical or religious belief which prohibits them from killing other human beings. A few are just running scared.
One student who is a pacifist on the grounds of his religious beliefs says he struggles, trying to reconcile "respectability" and "dissent."
"I don't want to cut myself off from law and order," he said, when stopped on the steps of Fraser Hall last Thursday.
"If I would have turned in my draft card April 3 I would have broken the law. But it's a dehumanizing law which restricts my freedom," he said.
It sounded like a statement he had made many times before, trying to convince himself that he believed it.
Time to think
He said he planned to "sell out" to the system and go to a theological seminary when he graduates from KU this spring. He said it would give him time to think things over, and decide how to solve the dilemma of becoming a law-breaker and still remain a "respectable person who wants to work within the system."
A philosophy student who also wants to work through "options within the system," says he opposes the present draft system.
"I'd just as soon like to see them run their little wars of national suppression without the draft," he declared.
He said he would be willing to serve as a combat medic, but if he couldn't join the system in that capacity, he would go to jail.
Going to jail, as Dewey did in 1941, and as several hundred young men are doing now, is one way to battle the draft. The students interviewed here have decided to try for conscientious objector status, or have obtained student deferments so they can stave off the issue for another year or two.
There are other ways to buck the draft. Canada is said to welcome young brains and brawn who flee there to escape the Selective Service system. Also,
young students can refuse to register, or attempt to flunk their physicals. Stories are spread about young men who have escaped induction by appearing at the induction center "high" on drugs.
"1001 Ways to Beat the Draft"
Rumors are passed around that a friend of a friend escaped induction by chopping off a finger. Tongue-in-cheek, a new paperback offers "1001 Ways to Beat the Draft," including such bizarre tactics as appearing at the induction center garbed in a Chinese peasant uniform and a button reading, "I support the National Liberation Front."
Although draft resisters may sigh, "I wish," such suggestions
are frivolous. Active opposition to the draft often means risking punishment from the government.
This is the risk which young anti-war students at KU are considering. Few are ready to take action which could lead to five years in jail and/or a $10,000 fine, especially those who are married, those who have scholarships, or those who like to breathe free air.
Jeff Falk, representative from Chicago Area Draft Resisters, answered these fears in a March discussion with about 30 KU students.
"Accepting a number of years in prison can be a way of liberating yourself," he said.
THERE ARE A DOZEN GREAT SHOE NAMES, BUT IN SANDALS CAN YOU THINK OF MORE THAN ONE?
UNION BALLROOM
UNION BALLROOM
CLASSICAL FILM SERIES
presents
THE 400 BLOWS (France,1959)
Perhaps THE masterpiece of the French cinema New Wave a rarely-seen version re-edited by Truffaut directed by Francois Truffaut
Directors Prize — Cannes Film Festival Winner—New York Critics' Award
7:00 & 9:00 p.m.—Wednesday—Kansas Union Ballroom 60c
"I want to believe that, but . . ." replied a student. That "but" is the reason for the struggle young men experience when they decide to oppose the draft.
1968 JAYHAWKER
Distribution of 3rd Edition May9,10 at Strong Rotunda ALL YOU NEED IS YOUR Yellow Jayhawker Receipt You May Also Pick up Cover and 1st Edition and 2nd Edition with KU-ID