NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAS
MONDAY NOVEMBER 19, 2008
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HEALTH
Students choose to donate plasma for extra cash
Knowing their donation was'for a good cause also factors into decision
BY MICHAEL HOLTZ
mholtz@kansan.com
Logan Englert, Topeka sophomore, has found a unique way of putting a few extra dollars in his pocket.
Twice a week Englert donates plasma, earning on average $60
Many students at the University have chosen to donate plasma as a way to earn extra cash or to supplement their income from their part-time jobs. Many students meet the qualifications to donate plasma, which include weighing at least 110 pounds, being at least 18 years old, living within 125 miles of a donation center and having proof of identity when they go to donate. Christine Kuhinka, manager of corporate communications at ZBT Plasma, said that donating plasma is ultimately about saving lives. The do-gooder aspect of donating makes it a win-win situation, she said.
every week.
He has made close to $400 since his first donation two months ago.
"At the end of the day, donating plasma is all about saving lives."
"A friend of mine did it last year and made enough through the course of the
communications, donating plasma is a win-win situation. Not only are donors getting a few extra bucks, but the lives of people who suffer from a wide range of medical conditions — such as hemophilia and immune deficiencies — are being saved, Kuhinka said.
"At the end of the day, donating
CHRISTINE KUHINKA ZBT Plasma manager of corporate communications
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
semester to pay for a spring break trip to Cancun," Englert said. "I already have a job, but I'm all for the money."
Englert works in the Oliver Hall cafeteria. He said donating plasma for eight hours every two weeks is equal to two-thirds of his paycheck. He works 24 hours during the same amount of time in the cafeteria.
According to Christine Kuhinka,
ZLB Plasma's manager of corporate
Plasma is the liquid portion of the blood. It is vital to the immune system as well as bleeding and infection control, according to the Web site of ZLB Plasma, a worldwide plasma collection company with a center located in Lawrence.
plasma is all about saving lives," Kuhinka said. "It takes 130 plasma donations to manufacture enough treatment to keep one person with primary immune deficiency alive for one year."
Kuhinka said there are several requirements in order to donate plasma. Qualified donors must weigh at least 110 pounds, be at least 18 years old, live within 125 miles of a center and have proof of identity when they go to donate. Other qualifications include having received a tattoo or piercing no sooner than 12 months prior to donating.
She said the process takes less than two hours to complete after the initial visit.
All visits include a physical examination followed by time spent connected to a plasmapheresis machine. This machine draws
the plasma from the blood and then injects blood cells back into the body.
"Plasma can be donated more often than blood." Kuhina said. "It's not as tough on the body, because red and white blood cells are returned to you."
Englert said the time spent donating allows him to work on homework or read a book. He said the center he goes to also has televisions.
Aaron Othmer, Topeka freshman, said the process itself is rather painless.
"The only part that really hurts is when they put the needle in," Othmer said. "After that, it's really not bad at all."
"They pay you a decent amount of money for a short amount of time," Othmer said. "And now that I know it's for a good cause, it makes me want to go back more often."
Othmer said he's been donating plasma for two weeks. Like Englert, Othmer said he enjoys the extra cash.
— Edited by Rachel Burchfield
CRIME
Scams cause concern for elderly's accounts
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WICHITA - Officials here estimate that as many as 3,500 elderly Sedgwick County residents are robbed every year by scam artists, family "caregivers" or other thieves.
But a task force organized by District Attorney Nola Foulston, is keeping a closer eye on financial transactions of senior citizens. The Financial Abuse Specialist Team, formed in October, enlists the help of volunteers such as bank employees, U.S. postal employees, Kansas Department Social and Rehabilitation Services workers, federal agents and elderly mental health specialists.
Margie McFrederick is a banker who says workers watch for elderly customers coming in regularly to withdraw money with the help of a nonrelative who does all the talking.
They also watch for seniors who start making small, unexplained withdrawals from their savings accounts, aware that scam artists call confused elderly people at home and pretend to be from a bank, asking for all sorts of banking information and Social Security numbers.
"One of the worst parts about this is that the elderly involved are from a generation that trusted people and has a lot of pride," said McFrederick, a vice president at Emprise bank. "So they often don't report it when they are robbed."
Authorities say only a fraction of such crimes against elderly residents get reported. Between July 2007 and July 2008, the state received 184 reports of "fiduciary abuse and exploitation."
April Shine, supervisor of the SRS's Adult Protective Services, said that in the four months since July 1 this year, there already have been 107 reports.
Foulston set aside money in her budget last year to build a new financial crimes investigative team, which now is compiling evidence for several cases.
One of the cases prosecuted by the team was that of John Hartley, who began conning money out of Mildred Patterson, an elderly Wichita woman with dementia, in 2003.
In early 2004 Patterson's son Ray, a California resident, became convinced that Hartley was stealing thousands of dollars from his mother.
HEALTH
HEALTH Study finds pill drastically decreases heart problems
NEW ORLEANS — People with low cholesterol and no big risk for heart disease dramatically lowered their chances of dying or having a heart attack if they took the cholesterol pill Crestor, a large study found.
The results, reported Sunday at an American Heart Association conference, were hailed as a watershed event in heart disease prevention. Doctors said the
study might lead as many as 7 million more Americans to consider taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, sold as Crestor, Lipitor, Zocor or in generic form.
"This takes prevention to a whole new level, because it applies to patients who we now wouldn't have any evidence to treat," said Dr. W. Douglas Weaver, a Detroit cardiologist and president of the American College of Cardiology.
The study also gives the best evidence yet for using a new test to identify people who may need treatment, according to a state-
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that treating everyone like them in the United States could cost up to 9 billion dollars a year — "a difficult sell," one expert said.
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About 120 people would have to take Crestor for two years to prevent a single heart attack, stroke or death, said Stanford University cardiologist Dr. Mark Hlatky.
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However, some doctors urged caution, Crestor gave clear benefit in the study, but so few heart attacks and deaths occurred among these low-risk people
ment from Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The new research will be considered by experts reviewing current guidelines.
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Associated Press
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Foreign Language teachers at all levels are listed as one of the specialties that many school districts have a hard time filling!
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2008 DIPLOMAT'S FORUM
Ambassador Liu Zhenmin China's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN
"China's Perspectives on Challenges Facing the UN and the New American President"
Friday, Nov. 14, 2008 ★ 4:30 p.m.
Stinson Morrison Hecker Lecture Hall ★ 104 Green Hall
University of Kansas School of Law ★ 1535 W. 15th St.
FREE TO THE PUBLIC