Students for a Democratic Society, a radical anti-war group in the 1960s, is enjoying a resurgence on college campuses, as demonstrated by its new chapter at the University of North Carolina.

The group became famous - or notorious - during the Vietnam era as it organized sit-ins, walkouts and other protests against the war at colleges around the country. Now it hopes to galvanize a new generation to oppose the war in Iraq.

Ben Carroll, a freshman from Raleigh who is secretary of the SDS chapter at UNC, said the new organization is doesn't necessarily agree with all of its predecessor's actions, but recognizes the old movement's success in organizing against the war.

"We felt like this was the best way we could capture the energy and student enthusiasm against the war at this time," he said.

Some leaders of the original SDS have helped organize chapters on about 250 campuses. Chapel Hill's has a core membership of 15 or so students, with a mailing list of about 100.

The group hasn't drawn as many participants because, unlike the Vietnam era, young people are not facing the likelihood of personal involvement in the war because they can't be drafted, organizers said.

Paul Buhle, a 1960s SDS leader and now a Brown University professor, is optimistic that the group will grow. He said a course he teaches on politics of the 1960s has had its largest enrollment this year.

"The enthusiasm of let's learn about things so we can change the world, I haven't heard about that in a long time," Buhle said.

Internal arguments spelled the end of the SDS in the late 1960s. The new organization began officially in January, with a loosely formed national umbrella. The group has held a couple of conferences, but campus chapters generally organize their activities on their own.

Since it formed this fall, the Chapel Hill chapter has organized an anti-war rally and a teach-in on Iraq, and protested when former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft spoke at the university.

That demonstration caused unrest on campus because some audience members walked out of Ashcroft's speech, said Kosta Harlan, a UNC Asheville graduate from Durham who is active with SDS at Carolina. SDS members maintain that they did not organize the walkout, but Harlan said some have blamed them for it nevertheless.

Still, Harlan said, most UNC students have been pretty receptive of the group.

"A lot of people might be opposed to the war," Harlan said. "They just have no idea how to go about voicing any opposition to it."

The group's next event is scheduled for Thursday - a forum with Iraq Veterans Against the War and a screening of "The Ground Truth," a documentary featuring Iraq veterans.

"We would like to see thousands of students rallying against the war or students walking out of class," Carroll said.

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Information from: The Herald-Sun, http://www.herald-sun.com