Oregon State University - Beaver Yearbook (Corvallis, OR)

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Above middle: During each blood drive, those who donate can be seen walking out of the MU with colorful bandages and stickers saying “Be nice to me. I gave blood today Photo by Ashley Stocki Above right: Ian McClellen. a junior in general science, donates blood during the winter Wood drive to help save lives. Photo by Justine Rykken Above: Freshman Brenda Buckman squeezes a small rubber ball while donating blood. Participants are asked to squeeze the rubber ball to keep their blood pressure constant and to prevent the vein from collapsing while they donate their pint of blood. Photo by Ashley Slocki Blood-

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blood drive OtSUrrt-em es's ro lafl (Aeir $ ccoc ( ( oe (awardy a cjoodca re n 2005 the United States’ 1»1(hk1 supply suffered from chronic shortages and was often less than two days away from empty, according to the American Red Cross. To help support the nations blood supply, Oregon State University has participated in the Civil War blood drive against University of Oregon for the past four years. ()rcgon State won the last three Civil War blood drives. University of Oregon won the first in 2001. To meet the needs of hospitals and their patients in this region the northwest blood drives needed to collect at least 5,(KK) units of blood a week. C )regon State also held two other blood drives during the year. ()ne was during spring term, and the other was during winter term. “ University blood drives are by far the Ixst contributors to the Red Cross, no other drive gives us this much bl x d in four days,” said Jan Schrader, heat! nurse in charge at the winter I)1«kkI drive. All the blood that was collected during the blood drives was shipped to various hospitals in ()regon and southwest Washington to help the millions of patients in need of blood. On their website the American Red Cross stated that there was a person in need of blood every two seconds in the United States. There are eight types of ret! blood cells. AB negative is the rarest I 1 xkI type but O negative has been the most in need because it is the universal type. Type O blood can be taken by any person in need no matter what their blood type. I lowever, every type of blood was needed. Blood transfusions can lx- used for trauma victims due to accidents and burns heart surgery, organ transplants women with complications during childbirth, newborns anti premature babies and patients receiving treatment for leukemia, cancer or other diseases such as sickle cell disease and aplastic anemia. This year ()rcgon State had over 3,300 donors with the most during the Civil War blood drive. Each component of blood can be transfused to different individuals with different needs. Typically, each donated unit of blood, referred to as whole blood, is separated into multiple components, such as red 1 1«xh1 cells, plasma, platelets and ervo-precipatitated Al II ', which helps blood to clot. Therefore, each donation can lx- used to help save as many as three lives. All together, this year C )regon State has possibly saved over 10, 500 lives. This was a huge incentive for giving 1 I xk1. To give bl x d was to save lives Story by Justine Rykken vents . mtai'iiom-

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luau 0 1 ssOjr n c At f (’y (oa zn A o A r foa Ai lAra to came o Ao (9J A cam ) us While grey skies hung over Corvallis for the better part of the clay, on one April Saturday the atmosphere was tropical within the four walls of Ciill Coliseum as the SIst annual Luau got underway. Guests were greeted at the door by students like Hawaiian native Charity Kama, who gave them a hug and a lei made out of shells. After this welcoming, guests walked under an umbrella and into Gill, which looked more like a community center than a Division I gym. The floor was covered with tables topped with pineapples fresh from the islands and photos of I lawaiian sights. The stage, with its bor-der of palm fronds, was ready for the variety show later in the evening. Before the show guests were invited to have a real taste of the islands in the form of pa’ina, or dinner. Members of the I lui () I lawaii club, who spent almost six months organizing the l.uau, spent most of the clay cooking the meal. I lawaiian favorites, such as Kalua pig, shoyu chicken, chicken long rice, and lomi lomi salmon were devoured by the crowd of OSU students, alumni, family and community members. Topping it all off was a dessert of hau-pia, a sweet coconut flavored jello type of treat. Throughout the dinner guests were treated to the sounds of I lawaiian group Pari and the northwest group Kalakoa. The main event of the night was the variety show. ()ver 40 students and community members, including the children of some OSC staff members, spent weeks learning and perfecting the intricate steps of the dances. Mach dance came from a specific South Pacific island and told a story or represented a group. A crowd favorite was the dance of the Maori men of Aotearoa. As the program explained, the Maori men would perform a war chant, or haka, before going into battle. The fierce and intense motion of the haka accentuated the size of the warriors’ Ixxlies while the loud, furious words were meant to scare the enemy. One of the highlights of the night was when the dancers invited some of the men in the audience to join the group on stage and learn a part of the Maori war dance. The audience was delighted when President lid Ray hopped up on stage. While no amount of pleading would get him to remove his shirt, Ray gamely let loose a war cry anti stuck out his tongue. Although the l.uau brought a bit of the islands to Corvallis, it was more than a cultural night for the main landers in the audience. It was a taste of home for members of OSU’s large Hawaiian community. The fixxl, entertainment anti sense of community seemed more like a gathering of a large family than a major college event. The theme of the night was Na Mo’olelo, or “The Stories,” but the real stories were the ones audience memlxrrs told each other for the next week as they reminisced about this year’s I Aiau. Story by Colleen Moran