QUESTION: If the draft came back, what illnesses or conditions would a person have to have to not be drafted?

ANSWER: The new draft system is different from the one during the Vietnam war. Once Congress and the president enact legislation calling for a draft, the Selective Service System goes into high gear.

First, the service calls for a lottery, based on birthdays. Men whose 20th birthday falls in that year are called up first, in lottery order, and ordered to report for a physical, mental and moral evaluation.

Next, if needed, the service system calls up 21-, 22-, 23-, 24- and 25-year-olds in that order. In all likelihood 18- and 19-year-olds would not be drafted.

Once notified to report, a registrant has 10 days to file for an exemption, postponement or deferment. No one receives a mental or physical exemption unless the system gets proof that a man is hospitalized or institutionalized, that he is homebound or cannot function outside the home, or that he cannot comprehend the nature of his registration. The system then determines whether the man qualifies for a medical exemption.

Evaluations at induction processing sites may result in exemptions for medical reasons, or in reclassification but not exemption. The list of possible conditions goes on for about 100 pages. The list is in "Standards of Medical Fitness," a publication you can find by going to www.army.mil/usapa/epubs. Click on category 40, then on AR40-501.

College deferments work differently, too. A student may defer induction only until the end of his current semester.

And the new rules take sex changes into account. Anyone who was born male and had a sex change must still register. If ordered to report for evaluation, that person must file a claim for exemption. A person born female who changed to male does not have to register. For more detail, visit www.sss.gov.

Q: Would you please print a refresher on the no-smoking ordinance for Longview restaurants? Some still have smoking sections.

A: In general, the rule is smoking is not allowed in public places in Longview. The definition of "public place" does not include "an establishment that excludes minors, a designated smoking area or a private club," among other exceptions listed in section 88-1 of the city ordinances. Some restaurants allow smoking at certain times when they prohibit minors from entering.

A "designated smoking area" is that part of a tobacco shop, bar, food establishment, bowling establishment or bingo establishment that is separated from the main area by impermeable ceilings and walls (except for automatically closing doors), that is ventilated separately and that is less than half of the total square footage of the establishment.

If you believe an establishment is not adhering to the rules, call the environmental health department at (903) 237-2760.

Q: The full page ad promoting the News-Journal's new look points out the new "masthead," which I believe properly should be called the "flag." Isn't the masthead on the inside where the publisher and editors are listed?

A: According to most dictionaries, "masthead" refers to both the listing of owner, publisher and editors on an inside page and to the name across the top of the first page. Oxford English Dictionary cites a journal in 1838 as the first printed use of "masthead" in reference to a newspaper's title on the front page. First use referring to the inside listing was in an American dictionary in 1934.

Masthead television refers to programs or networks built around magazines; for example, "National Geographic" channel, "Wall Street Journal Week," etc.

Q: I served on jury duty last week and found it interesting to watch the court reporter. Does she manually type the transcript word for word, or is there an automated system that prepares the transcript?

A: Almost every court reporter in the nation has software that translates the machine marks to words, according to Dawn Wilson, court reporting program director at Kilgore College. In fact, their machines use disks or flash drives that can be inserted into a computer, or the machine is attached directly to a computer. The reporter goes back and edits the transcript after the software has prepared a draft of proceedings.

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