Blood battle continues
Utah State University students are lending a helping hand, or rather an arm, to help fill the Red Cross’ blood banks in the second-annual Blood Battle against the University of Utah.
The week-long event continues a tradition started last year between the two schools to see which institution can receive the most donated blood from students. Utah won the event last year, but will not be starting any type of winning streak if Associated Students of USU Service Vice President Cameron Woolf has anything to say about it.
“We’ll be taking home the trophy Thursday, putting a 2003 on there for Utah State,” Woolf said.
The winner of the competition will be announced Thursday night in Salt Lake City during the USU/Utah football game.
While a winner will be decided in the battle, and a trophy will be awarded, Woolf said everyone is a winner when it comes to donating blood.
“We always put the winner in quotations, there is no real winner,” Woolf said. “Everybody who is giving blood is a winner.”
After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, there was an outpouring of support, but many people were donating food and blankets when the real need was blood, Woolf said. After some time, the blood banks filled up nationwide, but there is now a large need for more.
Marshall Welch, director of the Lowell Bennion Community Service center at the U said his school plans to build on its success from last year.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Welch said. “We’re going to go with the same approach we did last year.”
An approach of collecting a lot of blood, and beating Utah State, he said.
Welch said the U has five sites around campus where donations can be made, including the library, bookstore and an Associated Regional and University Pathologists vehicle, aptly named “The Blood Vessel” parked on fraternity row.
Some would say the multiple locations give the U an unfair advantage.
“That’s a joke, I mean, hello, they’re permanent sites, they’re gathered throughout the community,” Woolf said. “They have one million people on the Wasatch Front, six different locations, and we have the Sunburst lounge.
“We’re fighting, scratching, clawing, doing everything we can to compete,” he said.
This year, the length of time donations are accepted at USU has doubled from last year. The drive previously lasted only two days, due to scheduling conflicts at the time. Woolf said last year’s Service vice president, Dan Phelps, booked the Red Cross a year in advance for this year’s Blood Battle, securing them for four days.
“We thought, let’s cap it off with the football game, announce the winner at the game,” Woolf said.
The donation process can take up to 45 minutes, the majority of which entails reading a booklet, a short interview and survey and a quick test of the donors blood by pricking the finger. The actual donation process only takes about six to ten minutes, Woolf said.
Some individuals may not be allowed to donate blood, according to Red Cross regulations. Those who have traveled to certain locations abroad, have been to Toronto during the SARS crisis or have experienced any symptoms of West Nile Virus are not allowed to donate blood.
Woolf said some would-be female donors were also being turned away from the donation site after testing for low iron levels in their blood. Woolf said the Red Cross invited anyone who tested for a low iron level to eat a steak and broccoli dinner and return a day or two later to be tested again.
The Blood Battle continues Wednesday and Thursday, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. in the Sunburst Lounge of the Taggart Student Center. Donors receive a free T-shirt from the Red Cross.
-str@cc.usu.edu
MELISSA BRYSON, a freshman in engineering, relaxes as she is drained of a pint of blood in the Sunburst Lounge Tuesday afternoon. (Photo by Scott Davis)