15-year-old Philip Johnson almost slipped in before a new law takes effect. He was at the Department of Motor Vehicles in Columbia to get a beginner's permit Friday. Starting Monday, the DMV will send information on 18- to 25-year-old men to the Selective Service System. Young men 13 to 17 will have their information sent automatically on their 18th birthday.

But Philip ran into a paperwork problem that can't be fixed until next week. So when he comes back to get his permit, he'll be under the new law. "I don't really like it, because it's not like you have a right to do it, it's just like they do it for you," he says. "And if you don't want it to be done, then it's already done."

All men 18 to 25 are required by federal law to register with Selective Service within 60 days of their 18th birthday. But South Carolina has the third-lowest compliance rate of any state, only 83 percent.

Those who don't register cannot get federal student aid, federal job training or a civil service job.

Starting Monday, those who don't want to register won't be able to get a driver's license, either. Any man who refuses to sign the paperwork authorizing the DMV to send his information to Selective Service cannot, by law, be given a state driver's license or ID card.

"We do not register anyone for Selective Service," says Jimmy Earley, customer service administrator at the DMV. "We simply collect the information through their driver's license application process and we submit that to the United State Selective Service." 

He says the state really had no choice. A federal law requires states to start sending in the information. A total of 33 states, including South Carolina, have passed laws to do that through their DMVs.

Philip's mother, Cheryl McRae, knows there's no draft now. But she worries that there could be one in the future. Philip is her only child. "Well, I think it should be up to the individual, where they should be able to apply for themselves," she says. "I mean, this should be secured, private information."

Philip is also worried about the possibility of a draft in the future, because of the war in Iraq. "I was already involved in an ROTC program, but I'm about to get out of that because I'm not really interested in going into the services."