IU goes for jugular in blood donation battle with Purdue

Rivals IU and Purdue will battle for victory this month, but no blood will be shed on the football field. That's reserved for another contest. \nThe two schools will compete to see which can donate more units of blood for the Indiana Blood Center, which is co-sponsoring the fourth annual IU/Purdue Blood Donor Challenge along with IU and Purdue's alumni associations.\nPurdue won the friendly competition last year, and leads the challenge 2-1. It's leading this year's event with 345 donations. IU has 232 donations.\nIU has set up sites to donate blood since Oct. 23 and will continue to take donations until the event ends Nov. 11. The school with the most donations will be announced at the IU-Purdue football game Nov. 17 and will receive the traveling trophy for the year. \nBut beating Purdue is overshadowed by the significance of donating blood, said senior Sarah Sartore, vice president of the Student Alumni Association. SAA has sponsored the challenge every year, and will again this year. It has been passing out fliers during football games during the past couple weeks and have made announcements at events and on the radio. Sartore said she is honored to participate.\n"It's a good way to get both students and alumni to participate in an event that helps so many people," she said. "Especially because there's such a shortage of blood in Indiana and across the nation."\nBlood drives will be held in Bloomington, at locations around campus, in Lafayette and in other surrounding cities in the state.\nKathy Able, marketing assistant for the IBC, said only 5 percent of the eligible population donates blood, and the IBC needs 500 units of blood each day to distribute to hospitals.\n"Anything that will get new donors and keep them coming back is a great (promotion)," she said of the challenge. "The idea was to have a competition between the two biggest universities in Indiana. We want people to go out and start donating blood."\nPurdue is encouraging students to donate blood, said Purdue's Student Ambassador Coordinator for its Alumni Association, Marie Hernandez. Hernandez said she supports any efforts to increase the number of people who donate blood.\n"(Donating blood) saves lives," she said. "You never know when you might be in the position when you need a transfusion and there isn't any of your blood type. It's a noble thing to do, and it's another form of volunteering and getting back to the community."\nSartore said the challenge is the largest push for donating blood during the year. Able said a significant increase in blood donations occurs during the challenge.\nAccording to the American Red Cross Web site, donors must be at least 17 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds and be in general good health to give blood. Donors must also be able to present a picture ID. The entire process takes about an hour and includes an interview of medical history, a short check for blood pressure, temperature and iron level. The actual donation takes about five to 10 minutes.