As the country continues to be divided over many issues, Penn students may feel distant and unconnected to their country. However, one way students can unite and help others is by donating blood.
Yesterday, in the lower lobby of the Nursing Education Building, the American Red Cross joined the Penn American Red Cross Team to host its first blood drive of the school year.
Ultimately drawing over 100 people, the blood drive was a two-day event which began Friday in order to commemorate the third anniversary of Sept. 11. All of the pints of collected blood go to Philadelphia-area hospitals.
"Both the ARC and PennARC team believe that donating blood is an effective way to remember the victims of 9/11," PennARC Director of Communications and College senior Matthew Scafidi said.
The importance of these two blood drives, however, goes beyond remembrance. Currently, there is a huge shortage of blood in the United States, and in order to help patients in dire need of transfusions, blood drives are essential events.
"High schools are big places for blood drives," said Kristen Young, a senior manager of operations for the ARC.
She added that as a result of the reliance on high schools, there is always a shortage of blood during the summers when such drives are not held.
Julie Dietrich, a staff assistant at the School of Nursing and a blood donor, expanded upon Young's information about the blood shortage.
"A while ago I heard about how something like 80 percent of people donate blood in the Midwest, but only 10 percent donate in the East. This is a shameful statistic, so I donate every few months," Dietrich said. "It's definitely less painful than jury duty."
During Friday's drive, 52 pints of blood were collected, and according to organizers, each pint can save approximately three people. A single pint of blood, according to Young, can be divided into platelets, red blood cells and plasma, with each part going to a separate person in need.
To help facilitate the blood drive, PennARC has developed an online sign-up system for each drive -- located at www.penn.givesblood.org -- where students and faculty can sign up for exact times when they will donate.
The online system "prevents waits, sends reminders and thank yous to donors, and [most of all] helps retain people to donate," said Wharton and Engineering junior Brian Keller, a PennARC team member.
Within two hours of the opening of yesterday's drive, the online system proved successful, as students and faculty went through the donation process in as quick as a half hour -- compared to the prior hourlong wait.
For Nursing senior Joe Bui, the Internet sign-up proved especially helpful due to his busy schedule.
"I tend to sign up for drives when it's at a convenient time for me," Bui said.
Yet, for others, convenience was just a small perk. More importantly, the kindness and expertise of the nursing staff at the event eased donors' fears.
"Once at a drive I was told, "Oh, your vein's being funny, we have to take the needle out,' and it hurt, but this time it was really nice," Nursing sophomore Emily Pak said as she munched on cookies and pretzels at the drive canteen.
Still, despite the eagerness to collect blood, some donors were turned away from yesterday's drive.
Justine Llop, a student in the master's of science in Nursing program, found herself in such a predicament.
"I spent two years traveling around Europe [and] went to 18 countries," Llop said. However, even though Llop is a vegan, the scare of mad cow disease prevents anyone who spent more than six months in Europe since 1980 from donating blood in the United States.
Llop was quite disgruntled about this law, because she said, "I'm O-negative, they need my blood."
