Service reports draft compliance low

Although the draft has not been on the mind of American people for 30 years, the Selective Service System released a report May 17 stating that 21 percent of young men in California are not in compliance with draft registration regulations.

This federal offense can be prosecuted by law, including a fine up to $250,000 and a prison term of up to five years. However, some young men are not properly informed of how to register and the ramifications of not registering.

"I think I registered," said Saba Bazargan, a UCLA student who was born in Iran and has lived in the United States since he was a baby. "The problem is when I was supposed to register for Selective Service I was not a citizen. I never knew that I had to register."

Men who do not sign up with the Selective Service by the time they are 26 do not have access to several federal benefits. 

Legal and illegal immigrants are also required by law to register with the Selective Service.

"If they don't register with the selective service, they can not apply for U.S. citizenship," said Richard Churchill, the deputy state director for the Southern California region of Selective Service. 

However, the last man prosecuted because he did not register with the Selective Service System was in 1988. 

"The Department of Justice has such a heavy caseload, they will prioritize the prosecution or they will often combine the prosecutions with other federal crimes," said Richard Mark-arian, the California state director for the Selective Service System.  "Our intent is not to prosecute people criminally."

The local draft boards are not staffed on a regular basis.  They are made up of reserve force officers, or RFO's, who meet once a month to train area officers in the event of a crisis.

"Once Congress declares a draft, these RFO's hire civilians to set up offices and implement the local boards," Churchill said.

"The first age group that would be drafted are 20-year-olds," Markarian said.  "At 79 percent compliance, it's low.  California is in the bottom third in the United States in that age category.  With 18-year-olds, we are last place in the United States."

In January a law was passed in California by Governor Gray Davis that schools must make every reasonable attempt to convey to students the importance of registering with the Selective Service.

Several California schools have encouraged students to register for the Selective Service when they apply for financial aid.

"We have promoted registering for Selective Service very heavily through financial aid," said Robin Sroka, career center supervisor at Woodrow Wilson Senior High School in Long Beach.  "We encourage all of our seniors to apply through FAFSA."