A solitary face sits on an easel in Gold Star Hall, though no student may immediately recognize it.

The photograph is of a soldier killed in the war in Iraq, and although no one has been lost from Iowa State, the display serves as a reminder that a war is still going on.

Members of Time for Peace, a campus group that advocates nonviolent conflict resolution, said the display in the Memorial Union’s Gold Star Hall is meant to remind passersby of the cost of war. The memorial will remain through Friday in Gold Star Hall, which is where names are displayed of ISU students and alumni killed in wars dating back to World War I.

No military organizations at Iowa State have endorsed the display.

“It is largely a memorial in recognition of the lives that this war has affected,” said Brant Kassel, a member of Time for Peace.

“It’s very personal for many people because it is affecting more lives than you can imagine, particularly more than our generation has felt before.”

He said the memorial, which started Wednesday, displays profiles of four soldiers each day. To date, 26 Iowans have been killed in the war, said Kassel, sophomore in philosophy.

“We don’t want it to be a back- burner issue,” he said. “It’s taking people’s lives, and that’s really not something that we should take too lightly.”

Kassel said Time for Peace did not seek the permission from the soldiers’ families before constructing the memorial.

“We were thinking of asking for permission to use them, but we figured that we aren’t using them for political gain,” he said. “It’s nonpolitical; it recognizes that there’s a loss of life and we’re hoping for a peaceful resolution.”

Kassel said Time for Peace talked to ROTC organizations on campus about endorsing the display but was turned down.

Maj. Harold Meyer, adjunct assistant professor of military science and tactics and ROTC representative, said he was unaware of any contact his organization had with Time for Peace, although he questioned the motives behind the display.

“I question their intention that they did that to show gratitude for the ultimate sacrifice of Iowans in the quest for peace,” he said.

“I think they did it more for themselves, to make themselves feel good.”

He said, however, he doesn’t think the memorial is politicizing the deaths of soldiers.

“I think they have good intentions, but I think their direction is being misguided,” Meyer said. “I think they are being manipulated by people who want to use it for a political purpose, but they want to help.”

He said a better way to help support soldiers is to donate to groups like Doctors Without Borders or the American Red Cross.

Meyer said no ISU students or alumni have been killed in Iraq.

Kathy Svec, program coordinator for the Memorial Union, said the union is a good place to display the names of casualties, regardless of their association with the university. For a name to be engraved, the casualty is required to have been an ISU student, she said.

“To use the setting of the Gold Star Hall, to use that as a setting for this current display of Iowa casualties, what could be a more perfect place?” Svec said. “We are really honored to host this quiet memorial that the students have organized.”

She said planning to build the union began after World War I to memorialize the large number of people killed in that conflict.

Kassel said Time for Peace organized a similar display last fall around Veteran’s Day in front of Parks Library; others could be organized in the future.

Meyer said the requirements for a name to be displayed were formulated two years ago by a committee made up of union staff, campus ROTC directors and local veterans.