One such group doing just that, Students for a Democratic Society, has recently revamped its image after dying out in the 1960's.,”As some protest the Iraq war and other problems in America, high school and college students across the country are uniting and demanding action and attention.

One such group doing just that, Students for a Democratic Society, has recently revamped its image after dying out in the 1960's. SDS now is visible on campuses nationwide and officially has 148 university chapters registered. There are also a handful of college chapters that combine both Students for a Democratic Society and the Movement for a Democratic Society to form one group. While Marquette has yet to form its own chapter, the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee has an active chapter with about 15 regular members, said Dawson Barrett, a member of the UWM SDS.

The group received a great deal of criticism, said Jay Burseth, co-founder of UWM's SDS chapter. SDS was best known in the 1960's for its radical response to the Vietnam War. After the war ended, SDS became extinct, and was only recently rejuvenated in response to the war in Iraq, Burseth said.

He added that despite it's history the group is ahead of most student organizations because it has been around for so long.

Many of the group's attributes have changed and revolved over the past 50 years, said Laura Hetland, a member of the UWM chapter. While the group still protests and demonstrates against policies and actions, Hetland said most specifically the war in Iraq, SDS also focuses on educating students to make informed decisions.

"America supports what it does not understand, and does not understand what it supports. The people need the chance to make educated decisions. [SDS] is here to spark fires under people's passive desires for their communities and their world," she said.

Burseth said SDS also protest other injustices in the United States and world.

"(SDS) is definitely a larger movement," said Burseth. "The war is in the forefront of our minds. I think the war in Iraq is the main reason why most of us are with SDS, but if it was the only reason, we would be involved with an organization based solely around the war."

Major purposes of SDS, both as a whole and as the UWM chapter include participatory democracy, education, and opposition to injustice said Hetland.

Burseth said the group has received criticism about its name as well as the number of arrests of members of SDS.

"Regarding the criticisms," Burseth said, "I think as long as an organization is out there trying to create the perfect democratic society, there will always be criticisms for every little thing they may do that is undemocratic."

He said the media will almost always try to give protestors a bad image, but SDS continues to push the limits to get attention to SDS, its causes and the issues they are fighting for.

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