University of Kentucky - Kentuckian Yearbook (Lexington, KY)

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L-CARD attracts supporters from the campus and the Lexington £ community. The variety of political beliefs among members of the group % led to some difficulty in forming a cohesive organization. George Potratz voices his opinions during a February L-CARD meeting. Potratz once supported Iranian students who were arrestedfor interruping a speech by former CIA director Stansfield Turner in 1978. T. Moran 6-TRANSITION

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Transition The Courier-journal, Student Government President Mark Metcalf said that he thought most UK students felt positive toward registration for the draft. Pepper disagreed with Metcalf, saying that students just hadn't realized the full implications of such a measure. I guess they (the students) don't realize it's not going to stop at registration, said Pepper. While the members of L-CARD were sincere about their proposals for opposing registration, they were just as determined that their opposition would be a peaceful one—more organized than the marches of Jjthe '60s. I don't see that we're the seedlings of the flower children, said Pepper. While the prospects of draft and war are unfamiliar for most students, Don Pratt remembered a more violent time. Pratt, a former UK student, was involved with the I anti-draft, anti-war movement of the '60s. He spent 20 months in prison because of his resistance to the draft. A continuing dedication to personal freedom led him to become an active member of L-CARD. Pratt said that, although their purpose is the same, students in opposition to the draft have not reached continued on page While a supporter of the draft read the KERNEL in the background, Steve Hirscb, a junior arts and sciences major, advocates L- CARDS plans to rally against registration for the draft. Marching in front of the Administration Building in the fall of 1978, these Iranian students and their supporters shade their faces to avoid recognition. TRANSITION-5 K. Stephens the level of emotional involvement needed for the anti-draft movement to reach mass proportions. They're not emotionally involved because they don't have the conflict of war, said Pratt. Right now, the students haven't formulated their ideas as completely as they did through experience and over time in the '60s. He agreed with the organization's attempt to get an early start in opposing the draft. Draft registration is obviously preparation for the draft, and the draft is obviously a call to war, he said. Pratt also recognized the potential for the mass demonstrations of the past to happen again but said the issues may be different. I think that the demonstrations are not going to be over war-type issues, said Pratt. They're going to be on economic issues. People will be unable to pay for and keep up with inflation rates. While the issues of the draft were obviously related to the crises in the Middle East, there were those. Pepper and Koopman included, who felt the possible reinstitution of the draft was a political move to improve Carter's chances in the 1980 presidential election.The skepticism was heightened when the President suggested women be considered for the

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Transition draft and that the age of potential draftees be limited to men and women 18-20 years old. It's obviously a political move ' said Koopman of the age limitation. If you're running for president, you don't want to encompass the entire student population. Although the plans for demonstrations and forums were peaceful, L-CARD struggled to escape the image of past anti-draft organizations. Support from other student groups was slow in coming. Referring to the burning of a campus building in 1969, Pepper said, Maybe they think we're going to be a radical, left-wing organization that's going to turn a rally into an attempt to burn down the ROTC building. TRANSITION-7 T. Moran Moran When Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan, President Carter decided that the American Olympic team would boycott the Summer Olympic Games in Moscow. For athletes like wrestler Harold Smith, the action meant the end of a dream. T. Moran The crowd was small, but the sentiment heartfelt. Father Lawrence Hehman of the Newman Center addresses students and faculty during a prayer session for the hostages in Iran. The service was held in Memorial Hall.