The Michigan Daily
vni xr Mn- 4As
Ann Arbor, Michigan-Tuesday, July 22, 1980
Ten Cents
Sixteen Pages
Protests,
fights mar
first day of
registration
From AP and UPI
Construction workers singing "God
Bless America" crashed a rally by 150
anti-draft demonstrators in front of
Boston's federal post office building
yesterday in one of several protests
marking the first day of President Car-
ter's military registration program.
Police intervened to avoid a violent;
confrontation between the two groups
and arrested 20 of the anti-draft ac-
tivists - who were chanting "Hell no,
we won't go!" - dragging some to
waiting police wagons by their hair.
Another nine protesters were arrested
in Greenfield, Mass., and eight in Har-
tford, Conn.
ELSEWHERE around the country,
anti-draft protesters formed human
barricades, held silent vigils and jam-
med front-door locks at post offices.
About 1,000 demonstrators jammed a
cordoned-off section of Broadway in
New York City for a sing-along rally
with folk music.
The registration program - which
will affect an estimated four million
young men - is being challenged as
unconstitutional because women are
not included. Last-minute efforts to halt
the start of the program were unsuc-
cessful, but the lawsuit on the basic
issue is still pending.
The Rev. Barry Lynn of the Commit-
tee Against Registration and the Draft,
said at a news conference in
Washington that questions over the
legality of the draft will increase non-
compliance. "Resistance, anger and
confusion will generate at least a 15 per
cent non-registration rate, he said.
IN THE government's only official
response to the protests, Attorney
General Benjamin Civiletti issued a
statement saying, "Young men should
know one thing very clearly: This law is
in full effect" and it will be legally en-
forced.
The Boston demonstration occurred
shortly before noon as protesters held a
rally and then attempted to block the
entrances of the federal post office
building despite near 100-degree heat
and threats from construction workers.
The hardhats then invaded the rally
singing "God Bless America." Police
persuaded them to return to their con-
struction site across the street and
shoved the demonstrators away from
the main doors of the post office
building into the street.
THE PROTESTERS sat down on the
hot pavement and began singing Viet-
See VIGILS, Page 2
V
Moire uthan
200, local
young men
regit,6er
for draft
By SARA ANSPACH
Some did it because they believe their
country needs them. Some went without
much thought because the government
told them to go.
And many of the more than 200 Ann
Arbor men who registered for the draft
yesterday fought with their consciences
all the way to the post office.
MORE THAN 175 people rallied
against registration and the draft in
front of the Federal Building for two
hours yesterday afternoon, but the
protests were peaceful and few would-
be registrants were deterred.
, Representatives from Committee
Against Registration and the Draft and
Public Interest Research Group in
Michigan stood outside of all three Ann
Arbor post offices for most of the day.
See LOCAL, Page 3