EMMONS ASKS DEFERMENT OF CAA STUDENTS

Revealing that the expanding civilian training program might stall for lack of support of students in the College, Howard W. Emmons, faculty instructor in Mechanical Engineering and co-ordinator of the program in the University, yesterday called for a reform in the C. A. A. to make the program more attractive for undergraduates.

"At the present time," he said, "the program is primarily inadequate in that it cannot grant deferment until the end of the Senior year." Applicants for this semster's course, he revealed, must contract to enlist in the Army or Navy in June, unless they are selected for higher training.

This requirement, he emphasized, has probably been the cause of the difficulty that the course has had in filling their present quotas, for last fall, when enlistment was left to the discretion of the individual, Emmons found no trouble in attracting the 30 men he needed.

Deferment Urged

Students should be allowed to enroll in the program their Freshman year, he recommended, and should be granted draft deferment until the completion of their college course. By giving them instruction for the full three or four years, much of the time that now has to be spent giving the pilots training after graduation would be unnecessary.

According to Emmons, it is not yet certain whether the course will be given this summer. "If it is," the draft boards may not continue the deferment of any of its members who do not take it then."

As matters stand at present, half of the 20 men who make up the University quota for the basic primary course will be selected for further training, while the other ten will enter the Armed Forces in June. Although they probably will receive no credit for the work they have done here, Emmons emphasized that their preliminary course will give them a great advantage in their military training and increase their chances of successfully meeting the stiff requirements of the Air Force.

Program Enlarged

In an effort to provide an adequate supply of pilots for the war and for an enlarged civilian service later on, Congress has decided to enlarge the resent program, Emmons revealed. Although the exact direction that this expansion will take has not yet been determined, it is possible that the scholastic requirements for admission will be relaxed to allow high school students to enroll.

Whether they will be incorporated into the present system, or whether a separate organization will be established for them, has not been announced. "In any event," Emmons said, "the new program will try to advance air-mindedness as well as the ability to fly."