BloodSource at Sac State

The largest number of Sac State students to date, showed up to participate in the "Causeway Classic Blood Drive" this past Monday and Tuesday.

For several years now, Sacramento State has joined with BloodSource in the annual blood drive which this year also serves as a competition against its biggest rival UC Davis.

BloodSource is a non-profit organization that has been committed to organizing blood drives since 1948 and today it is the source of blood used by over 40 hospitals in 25 Northern and Central California counties. BloodSource have two locations here in Sacramento and over a dozen more outside the Sacramento area.

Half an hour before the end of the event of Tuesday the total amount of blood donors was 845 and the line was still out the door. In previous years, Sacramento State was only able to collect a little over 100 pints of blood each day. The goal this year was to collect 275 pints of blood each day and fortunately for Sac State they were able to accumulate over 400 pints of blood per day.

Participants received tickets to an imax showing of "Wild Ocean 3D" and a free t-shirt for donating a pint of blood.

Ashely from BloodSource recommended that participants eat a lot of food with iron and be well hydrated before donating blood because the biggest reason why people are disqualified for donating blood is low iron.

Student involvement has been a major factor in the success of this year's blood drive. Tim Gilmore, representative of BloodSource says that they have had a lot of help from student organizations.

"PR organizations, student fraternities, the Student Sikh society has been coming out, so we've had a lot of participation from both campus life and from BloodSource," Gilmore said.

A Pint For P.R.

Public Relation students at Sacramento State University organized and executed the first blood drive for the Causeway Classic.

The blood drive's goal was to bring in at least 700 units of blood per day, the same amount needed and used by Sacramento health care facilities.

The P.R. class was split into groups by Professor Tim Howard. They were assigned logistics, media, risk management, and writing tasks for the drive.

"Each group worked on their portion of the event for at least two to three weeks beforehand," said Mia Kattiren, who was helping students with Blood Source applications.

Professor Howard closely monitored and showed his support by being all of his classes to the event throughout the two days.

P.R. Student Dustin Lidien said the class is getting graded on how many people come and participate.

"So we had to promote and advertise the blood drive to get a good grade on this project," said Lidien.

Rachael Clauson, another P.R. student said "We're also getting graded on our end of the project and how well we put our part together."

Blood Source did the actual blood taking while the P.R. class brought the blood drive to the students' attention with flyers and word of mouth.

"Sac State really didn't have that much awareness for the blood drive," said Lidien.

In the second week of school, an employee of Blood Source, who was a former P.R. student of Professor Howard, pitched the blood drive idea.

One idea to encourage students to participate in the drive was the competition with UC Davis.

The event lasted two days in the University Ballroom.

The class plans similar drives for fraternities and sororities, dorm residents, and faculty on Nov. 3. with another chance to give blood at the Residence Halls from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. For more information call Elizabeth at (813) 542-1002.

A New Causeway Tradition has Risen

A bitter rivalry has taken a new twist this year between UC Davis and Sacramento State.

Both schools are commonly seen trying to beat one another on the gridiron, but now a new playing field will be added to the challenge.

This year marks the first Causeway Classic Blood Drive, sponsored by Bloodsource.

The competing schools will try to see who can register the most Bloodsource blood donors, and the winner will be awarded a trophy at each year’s Causeway Classic football game.

This year will mark the start to an annual competition between the two schools.

Project Director, Kate Blake, has seen firsthand how enthusiastic students from their respective schools can get about donating blood.

"The best thing about this blood drive is how energized the students are about helping others," Blake said in a press release. "I think it will only get better every year."

Blake has seen the large amount of students coming out to donate blood firsthand as she patrolled the University Union Ballroom in the blood drive’s second day. Blake said that the numbers have more than tripled compared to years past.

“We’ve had a fabulous turnout this year. We’ve had a huge amount of participation from all the social groups on campus,” Blake said.

In the second day of a four day Bloodsource tour of Sac State, the University Union Ballroom was nearing it's 1,700 capacity with students, faculty and Bloodsource workers all combining to aid the blood drive in any way they could.

Patty Rouen has been working for Bloodsource for the past 13 years and believes that students should donate blood because an individual’s donation can help multiple types of injuries.

“There are many, many patients that need blood in the hospitals,” Rouen said. “Your blood donation helps more than one person.”

From students who were donating for their first time to those who have been donating for years, each student has their own reason for donating blood.

Caitie Gardner, a second year communications major, donated blood for her first time and admits the waiting process made her a bit nervous.

“I feel like I should donate blood because you can save up to three people’s lives by donating,” Gardner said.

Erin Lewis is a Sac State student who has donated blood multiple times, and is surprised by the turnout.

“I always give blood…I’ve been giving blood for a couple of years, so I figured I’d come here to do it too,” Lewis said.

Brooke Vinaten believes it’s a calling for her to donate blood because of her specific blood type.
Vinaten donated blood alongside one of her friends on the second day of the blood drive.

“I figure it’s a good way to give blood…I’m a rare blood type so it’s a good reason why I want to do it,” Vinaten said.

The blood drive will continue for two more days on the Sac State campus, Bloodsource will return on Nov. 3 and 5 to register and collect donations from individuals interested in donating.

Stickin’ It To Davis

SACRAMENTO -Sacramento State students are using their UC Davis rivalry to help Sacramento area residents by donating blood in the first Causeway Classic blood drive challenge.

Sacramento State students participated in record numbers at the Blood Source Blood Drive on campus Monday and Tuesday, in a competition to raise more blood donations than UC Davis.

Sacramento State Professor Tim Howard had his Public Relations Planning and Management class help organize the event to bring awareness for the need for blood donations in the Sacramento area.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 805 Sacramento State students donated blood, compared to 130 students from last year’s blood drive, said Sacramento State student Nicole Gillett, a volunteer from Howard’s Public Relations class.

Howard said that no matter the outcome of the competition, both universities’ efforts will amount to a victory for the cause.

“I think our students have won, just learning about the importance of volunteerism and participation,” Howard said.

Blood Source employee Philip Roberts said he thinks the competition between Davis has brought more Sac State students out to donate blood. Roberts has worked for Blood Source for three and a half years and said he has never seen this many Sacramento State students donate blood before.

“I think that’s because they are trying to beat UC Davis in the blood drive,” Roberts said.

Tim Gilmore, Administrative Assistant for Blood Source, said the idea to do a competition between Sacramento State and UC Davis was introduced to increase the participation among students.

“The Sac State students have really come out and stepped up and brought the level of competition and we’re really gonna be right there and stickin’ it to Davis,” Gilmore said.

Sacramento State Junior Tom Grainger donated blood Tuesday to help Sacramento State beat UC Davis. Grainger has friends at Davis and said it is always fun to try and beat Davis when they can.

“I think the ultimate prize to winning this competition is bragging rights,” Grainger said.

Sacramento State student organizations could also benefit from the drive –– the student organization with the most participants will win $500 from Blood Source.

Fraternities and sororities were among the student organizations with the highest turnout, Gillett said.

Lambda Chi Alpha President Ray Aldrich said he encouraged his members to donate blood because it is for a good cause and that their fraternity could possibly win money for their participation.

Diego Hernandez, a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, said that the competition between UC Davis motivated him and his fraternity to donate blood.

“I told everyone that it was for a good cause and because we wanted to beat Davis,” said Hernandez.

Friends, families and Sacramento State students can still donate blood at any Blood Source location for the next two weeks.

There will be two more blood drives on campus on November 3 in the Residence halls and November 6 in the Health Center. UC Davis is holding their blood drive Nov. 4 and 5, said Gilmore.

The winning campus will be announced at the Causeway Classic football game on Nov. 8 at Aggie Stadium at UC Davis.

Causeway Classic Blood Drive- Participation

The rivalry between Sac State and UC Davis has become downright bloody.

The two universities are holding a contest on Monday and Tuesday October 21 and 22 to see which school can donate the most blood before the 55th annual Causeway Classic.

Students and faculty joined together to donate blood in conjunction with BloodSource of Sacramento.

In conjunction with Bloodsource, one of Sac State's Public Relations classes transformed the ballroom inside Sac State’s University Union into a mini-clinic capable of drawing the blood of dozens of donors at the same time.

Waiting in line to donate, a few students said it was their first time giving blood.

“This is probably like my fifth or sixth time giving blood,” said pre-Physical Therapy major Kendra Sandeagen.

“I give blood as often as I can, because I know it saves lives,” Sandeagen said.

A young man named Jose Uribe, who was waiting in a reclining chair to give blood for the first time.

“I decided to get over my phobia (of needles) and to do it for a good cause,” said Uribe, a Construction Management major. After the 6 to 15 minutes that it takes to give a pint of blood, Uribe said that he had conquered his fear and would donate again in the future.

Some donors did not have such an easy time.

“The nurses saved me!” said Lauren Ito, a current CSUS student who almost fainted after giving blood. Nurses had to push her back into the chair and immediately give her orange juice as they monitored her closely.

Ito also said that the incident would not deter her from donating again, which was the sentiment from most donors throughout the event, even with the hour long wait.

Donors first had to fill out paperwork and talk to volunteers to make sure that they were eligible to give blood. Once cleared, they were directed to an open seat at the dozens of stations where nurses worked with 2 donors at a time.

About 15 minutes later donors were released to the snack area.

“They told me to ‘stay here (and eat) for as long as you like,’” said Long Tran, a Computer Engineering major.

For some donors it may have been about beating Davis, but for most, taking the time to donate blood was about doing something for others.

“It’s for a good cause and I felt like I should do it,” said Music major Shannon Burton.

All participants received a T-shirt, an IMAX movie theatre ticket and were entered to win various prizes including iPods and gift cards.

The winner of the Causeway Classic Blood Drive will be announced during the football game between Sac State and UC Davis at Aggie Stadium on November 8.

Stick it to Davis --- Sac State's blood drive

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