Student Senate discusses making successful drive an annual event

A bone-marrow drive held at Ohio University's Baker Center last year was such a success that Student Senate Wednesday discussed making the drive an annual event at the university by reaching out to freshmen, new students, and students who did not participate in the first-ever drive in 2008.

Scripps College of Communication Sen. Matthew Beddingfield said during Senate's general body meeting Wednesday that organizer Erica Cohen, an at-large senator during the 2008-09 academic year, was the driving force behind last year's bone-marrow drive.

Cohen said the drive helped to add names to a national donor list and garnered two matches from OU students as bone-marrow donors for cancer patients.

"Whether we register 100 people or 100,000 people, there's always the potential to save someone's life," Cohen said. "... I wasn't expecting 2,500 people (to register last year)."

Cohen said 10 percent of the student body at OU responded to her call to sign up for the national donor list.

She said she's not that concerned with high numbers, but just wants people to know if they're potential matches. "If a cancer patient needs a transplant now, chances are they are not going to make it to next year," she said.

She said a friend from high school had leukemia and needed a transplant right away. He was diagnosed in November, had a transplant in March and passed away in July, three days before his 22nd birthday. "He found his match, but there were still a lot of complications," she said. "He probably wouldn't have survived another two months after he was diagnosed if he hadn't found that match."

Cohen said 6,000 patients every day search for a bone marrow donor.

Beddingfield asked every Student Senate member to become involved in organizing the event, which was tentatively set for spring quarter.

Senators also will participate in Up 'til Dawn, a fundraising effort to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Hospital chief of staff Patty Roberts challenged senators to become involved and showed them a video about the hospital, which specializes in children's cancer research and treating childhood catastrophic diseases. No child is ever turned away due to a family's inability to pay, she said.

The Up 'til Dawn event will take place from 4-11 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 15 at Baker Center Ballroom. Participants send letters to their families and friends to raise donations for the hospital.

"It goes to show how important fundraising is for them because they don't turn children away," Roberts noted.

Also, during the meeting, OU Center for Student Legal Services Managing Attorney Pat McGee presented tips for staying safe this Halloween weekend.

CSLS provides legal advice and representation to all OU students who pay the $8 fee included as an option on their university bills, according to a handout from the meeting.

"I don't see a real problem with the Athens Police Department," McGee said. "They're in general very receptive to the antics of the costumes and partiers. The people I always warn (students) about are the liquor control agents. ... We've done a handout that says, 'If you're not 21, don't go on a beer run.'

"We don't want to urge people to break the law, but we're fully aware that the vast majority of students at Ohio University do drink when they're (younger than) 21. It would be hypocritical to ignore that," he added.

Students can find more information on safety tips at CSLS' Web site at www.studentlegalrights.org.

In other business, Senate unanimously passed a resolution in support of October as Disability Awareness Month and endorsed continued efforts by the university to increase accessibility on campus for people with disabilities, including students and faculty.

Commissioner of Minority Affairs Andrea Blamble, the primary sponsor of the resolution, said events on campus this month have featured discussion about accessibility on campus.

Academic Affairs Commissioner Jesse Neader, a co-sponsor of the resolution, said it is important for Senate to show its support for people with disabilities.

"As a person who has a disability, it means a lot, even if (Senate is not) doing anything, to back up and show our support for people with disabilities," he said.