THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
DENT
ATE
MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2013
CANCER FROM PAGE 1A
Despite the 9.5 million potentials donors registered with Be the Match, there is no match for Hollar. Only one in 540 people who register to donate are ever found as a match to a patient in need. Hollar's options are now limited to either an umbilical cord transplant or a haploid transplant, which have higher chances of bringing cancer back into remission or causing a graft versus host disease.
After recovering and completing medical or chiropractic school, Hollar now hopes to open a clinic or spa that would act as a liaison for cancer patients between hospitalization and outpatient care.
"I can't imagine not having the support that I've had from my family and being able to completely rely on them," Hollar said. "I can't imagine trying to do any of this on your own so I want to open something up that provides an affordable place to go and have someone there to help you"
"We're still holding out hope that by some miracle of a chance that something pops up — that somebody's a match somewhere," Hollar said. "But there are other options."
Hollar's mother and stepfather are both retired and have dedicated themselves to staying with her. Hollar receives letters, notes and gifts from distant friends, her grandmother's friends and even complete strangers. Her neighbors have taken to cooking meals for Hollar that meet her chemotherapy diet. She recently discovered her name on the prayer list at a church she had never heard of.
"There have been nights where I've had to lay on the bathroom floor for five hours because I was in so much pain," Hollar said. "My mom ended up making a palette for me on the bathroom floor and sitting with me, talking to me and holding my hand. I want to be able to do something like that for other people because there's no way I could have made it through like I have without my family and friends."
In the midst of chemotherapy, Hollar would sleep for 20 hours a day. When she was able to get online, she was shocked and touched
by the volume of people who had sent her text messages, posted on her Facebook wall and left messages for her on her CaringBridge journal. She describes her journey fighting cancer as life-changing and stresses how important it is for people, especially healthy 20-year-olds who will be viable on Be the Match's registration list for decades, to reach out to patients.
"It's less painful than giving blood, to get registered for it," Hollar said. "There are people out there who have got it much, much worse than I do. Registering could make a huge difference and save that person's life."
While potential donors need not pay any money to register, lab fees to check each potential donor for an exact chromosomal match costs $100. Thanks to the donations collected online and through friends, Hollar has already raised $6,985. To donate to the registration drive, visit bethematchfoundation.org/goto/TeamLaura.
Edited by Brian Sisk
CONNTRIBUTED PHOTO
CRIME
Attorney on trial for handling of ticket scandal case
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WICHITA — The previous attorney for a former University of Kansas athletics consultant is expected to testify Monday at an evidentiary hearing to determine whether he did a poor job in defending his client during the prosecution of a $2 million ticket scalping conspiracy.
property.
U. S. District Judge Monti Belot wants to hear from Thomas Blubaugh's defense attorney as he considers whether to grant the convicted man's request for a shorter sentence. Blubaugh was sentenced in April 2011 to 46 months in prison after previously pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States through wire fraud, tax obstruction and interstate transportation of stolen
Blubaugh, who has been serving time at a federal prison in Oklahoma, has asked a judge to reduce his prison sentence to no more than 33 months.
He contends the court improperly considered the value of tickets for sporting events that had passed, so-called deadwood files, which he had hidden in a private storage facility. Blubaugh also claims he had ineffective counsel, saying his attorney assured him that the prosecutor had promised he would get probation in return for helping the government even if all the defendants pleaded guilty and the case never went to trial.
PAGE 3A
Belot said last month he was surprised neither side called Blubaugh's former attorney,
Stephen Robison, to testify at last month's hearing on the request. The judge took the rare step of setting another hearing so he could listen to Robison's testimony.
The court also granted a prosecution request seeking copies of Robison's defense file on the case, finding Blubaugh waived attorney-client privilege when he made a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.
Blubbaugh has challenged his sentence in a pleading from prison in which he claims the court erred in allowing the government to use information he provided to adjust the amount of loss attributed to him. He argued his plea agreement prohibited the government from using the previously concealed "deadwood" tickets he turned
over in determining his guideline sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Hathaway has argued in court filings that prosecutors already knew about the tickets even before Blubaugh told them they had not actually been destroyed. The government also took issue with the claim of ineffective counsel claim by noting that his defense attorney had vigorously pressed the issue of the "deadwood" tickets in two sentencing memorandums and at the sentencing hearing. Hathaway argued in a court filing that an attorney is not ineffective simply for failing to win an argument.
vided substantial assistance to the government and that the sentence would be up to the judge to decide.
Blubaugh and his wife, Charlotte, the university's former ticket director, were among seven people convicted in a scheme involving tickets to football and basketball games. Five people were convicted of conspiracy and were sentenced to prison terms after all pleaded guilty. Two others who cooperated early with prosecutors were given probation sentences after pleading guilty to a lesser charge of failing to tell authorities about the scheme.
Hathaway also pointed out that the defendant himself acknowledged in his plea agreement that he had not yet pro-
How hard is it to win an NCAA men's basketball championship? Very few head coaches have done it twice. And only four have done it more than twice. Bobby Knight with three, Mike Kryzewski with four, Adolph Rupp with four and John
Wooden with ten.
POLICE REPORTS
Information based on the Douglas County Sheriff's Office booking recap.
- A 21-year-old female was arrested yesterday on the 1500 block of Hanscom under suspicion of operat ing a vehicle under the influence, second offense, and interfering with an officer's duties. A $1,100 bond was paid.
- A 21-year-old male was arrested yesterday on the 800 block of 2nd Street under suspicion of driving while intoxicated. A $250 bond was paid.
- A 24-year-old male was arrested yesterday on the 900 block of 23rd Street under suspicion of possession of controlled substances and driving while intoxicated. A $3,250 bond was paid.
- A 24-year-old male was arrested yesterday on K-10 under suspicion of transporting an open container of alcohol in a vehicle. A $100 bond was paid.
Emily Donovan