Bleeding for money
When one thinks of a college student’s lifestyle, minimal budgets, Ramen noodles and coupon clipping may be the first things that come to mind.
For some USU students the search for cash can lead to selling plasma, the liquid component of blood.
Students like Harrison Weyand, a freshman majoring in environmental engineering, makes regular visits to the Biomat USA Plasma Donation Center on Main Street in Logan. There, visitors can donate the plasma in their blood and make money.
“I donate to have a little extra spending money on the side,” said Weyand, who has been donating plasma for about a month. “I really don’t have time for a job and I don’t have a car out here to get to a job, so I’m thinking that (this) was my best option.”
Weyland said donors at the Biomat Center can donate twice a week. The first donation of the week is worth $20 and the second donation is worth $35. A donor can earn $55 a week.
“It’s not going to pay your dues or anything, but it’s a good way to get some money to just have on the side,” Weyand said.
According to Biomat USA’s website, the process of collecting plasma, called plasmapheresis, removes the donor’s blood, separates the red blood cells from the plasma and collects the plasma while returning the red blood cells to the donor. This prevents the lightheadedness that comes with donations of whole blood.
Mitchell Bruce, a freshman majoring in biology, said he also donates so he can have spare cash.
“I started donating plasma at the beginning of last summer, so maybe for about nine months,” Bruce said. “So far the experience has been good.”
Bruce said he has a job at Old Navy, but he uses the money he makes there to pay for school. He uses money he makes from the plasma center for personal purchases, he said.
“I’ll use it for going out to lunch or to buy something,” he said.
For some students, however, the plasma center is a primary source of income.
“I go sometimes because I can’t get a job here in Logan,” said Caleb Mairs, a freshman majoring in graphic design. “Most jobs are taken based on the number of college kids alone.”
Last October, CNN Money ranked Logan as the 22nd best town in the United States to find a job, as well as the eighth best area in the country for “where the jobs are.” However, even with this ranking and an unemployment rate of under 5 percent, some students, like Mairs, still have trouble finding jobs.
Weyand said he sees many students from USU in the plasma center at a time.
“I see people who I know there all the time (who are) also donating,” he said.
Bruce said he’s also seen many familiar faces at the center, and though he has heard some complaints from others about donating, he has had an overall good experience there.
“It’s been good … I’ve never had anything happen,” Bruce said. “It’s easy, it really doesn’t take that long and it’s all for a good cause.”
Weyand said the procedure usually goes smoothly and takes less out of a donor than giving blood because the process hydrates the body.
“The whole procedure is pretty much like giving (blood) for the Red Cross,” he said. “I wasn’t too nervous about it. I’ve never gotten sick giving blood, and it makes you feel less weary than giving blood does. It doesn’t take as much out of you because they give you your liquids back.”
Weyand said his least favorite part of the procedure is the initial blood test, which involves a prick of the finger to extract a blood sample.
Mairs has a similar problem, he said, because he doesn’t like needles.
“I hate needles, but I still go,” he said. “Sometimes, you do what you need to do for some spare cash.”
– ej.jungblut@gmail.com