Lo, the Poor Sophomore

As it was for everybody else, it was a tough time to be a college student. Going home for Christmas holidays, hundreds of thousands of draft-age young men on U.S. campuses were suffering from what Stanford's Counselor for Men Richard Balch labeled "draft neurosis." In its essence, their malady stemmed neither from fear nor any lack of patriotism. It was simply a form of bewilderment: they all wanted to know if they were going to be called into the Army, and if so, when. Nobody on earth could tell them.

There were some partial answers. A college student reporting for classification during the college year is automatically deferred until it ends; if he stays in the upper half of his class, he will probably be allowed a draft postponement until he finishes his college course. Anyone in R.O.T.C. courses is fairly safe. These were facts last week, but no one knew how long they would remain so. Nobody could tell whether the draft regulations might not soon be changed altogether.

Meanwhile, local draft boards have the power and often the inclination to interpret the general rules their own way. Furthermore, once a man is called for his physical examination, even though he is to be deferred, his chance of enlisting in a service of his own choice vanishes. Before the Christmas holidays, campus advisers everywhere were being asked the same questions: Should I volunteer? Sit tight? Change to a technical or science course?

The advisers generally were urging students to stay with their books. "I advise them to put as much as they can in their educational bank," said the University of Colorado's Dean Harry Carlson. But this was not as easy as it sounded--particularly for indifferent scholars, who found that worrying about the draft added still another handicap to their desperate pursuit of grades. An increasing number were enlisting--usually in the Navy or Coast Guard ("where you can keep clean"), or in the Air Force. Nobody was enthusiastic about it, but few wanted to be dogfaces.

Said Registrar James K. Hitt of the University of Kansas: "It is our view that there is no clear call from Washington to make a student leave school. We would like to see the situation clarified. Does Washington want the student in school or in the service?"

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