I think Jim Lynch is right on student deferments, although I'm not entirely
sure about dates. At least the basic inequity issue is on target.
One curious effect I noticed of changes in the system. I graduated from
college in 1968. My class was the first for whom there were virtually no
post-graduate deferments (e.g., graduate study, etc.), yet the lottery wasn't
instituted for another year. Thus every male in my class simultaneously faced
a personal decision about what to do with respect to the draft & war. Over
the course of my senior year, I felt a new kind of community-feeling among
people whose politics & interests were very different; people who didn't have
much to do with each other prior to that year suddenly began talking about &
sharing concerns about the war, and alot of more-conservative jock-types
seemed more open to the antiwar-activist crowd. In the spring of 68, a group
of seniors held an impromptu funeral for the class of '68 --which turned into
a pretty heavy event. People in subsequent classes have remarked that they
never felt this kind of "solidarity" with their classmates. I wonder if
others had similar experiences?
Ted Morgan