Issue date: 4/13/07 Section: Campus News

It is said that every two seconds someone in America desperately needs a blood transfusion. On April 11, Stevens Institute of Technology did their part by hosting their spring blood drive. Stevens hosts a blood drive every 56 days which is the minimum time the Red Cross states is safe for a donor to donate again. Greek organizations Alpha Sigma Phi, Delta Tau Delta, and Phi Sigma Sigma organized a school-wide blood drive. The American Red Cross estimated that 80 people each donated a pint. With these 80 donors, up to 240 lives were saved. Not everyone who showed up to donate was able to do so. The American Red Cross disqualifies certain people from donating because of pre-existing medical conditions or other safety issues. For example, The American Red Cross does not accept blood from donors who have lived in or traveled to countries where diseases such as tuberculosis are rampant.
Stevens Institute of Technology is part of the New Jersey and Southeastern Pennsylvania region of the Red Cross. Bruce Jordan, an Alpha Sigma Phi brother who co-coordinated the Blood drive and also serves as Business Manager for The Stute, urged students to donate. Jordan emphatically said "Donating blood is a great cause to get behind, with every donation, lives will be saved." In response to the growing need for blood, Red Cross increased donations by 10% last year. However local chapters were only able to donate 70% of the total. The region plans to increase donations by 100,000 over the next three years since the need for blood will grow as the age of the U.S. population increases. Alpha Sigma Phi hopes to hold a blood drive during the upcoming school-year.

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