Of current interest: Engineers and selective service

Although the Selective Service Act provides that no deferment of military service shall be made for occupational groups or groups of individuals in any plant or institution, constructive efforts are being made by Selective Service officials and by many local draft boards to defer from routine military service those men who are necessary in the production of National Defense materials and those students who are preparing themselves for service in defense industries and other activities vital to the national safety. This general subject has been discussed by AIEE President R. W. Sorensen in his messages to the Institute membership published in the March issue (pages 127–8), the April issue (pages 175–7), and again in this issue (page 279). The subject also was discussed by President Harvey N. Davis of Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, N. J., in an address delivered at the AIEE North Eastern District meeting, Rochester, N. Y., May 1, 1941, full text of which is included elsewhere in this issue (pages 247–50); and by W. S. Fielding (A ´38) in the “Letters to the Editor” columns of this issue.