When I was an undergrad I'd write negative points into pledge's pledge
books with the promise that those points would be changed to positive
as soon as they gave blood. Nowadays I'd probably be brought up on
hazing charges for that. People should give blood because it's a good
thing to do. I forget whether I'm on my 5th or 6th gallon right now...

I don't think there's anything wrong with having a listserv... things like this just happen sometimes.

I personally think that they should not only lose the points for the Blood Drive, but also be removed from the Greek Week competition. Yes, it sucks for everyone to be punished for the actions of one, but at the same time, the school and Greek system need to make a point that this will not be tolerated. Perhaps the Blood Drive competition should be removed entirely from Greek Week competitions as it will inevitably lead to people doing whatever it takes in order to "win" when they should be more concerned about donating the blood, period. It shouldn't matter if there is a competition, the fact that others are in need should be a sufficient reason for donating.

The moral of the story is not to give girls named Jenny Smith a bid. :p (No offense to any actual Jenny Smith out there, just a lame attempt at humor)

I def. agree w/ nyrdrms that something should be done to show that this will not be tolerated.

for all we know this kind of behavior might be happening in other chapters on that campus that we don't know about, all because they want to win greek week.

This is exactly why our chapter's Yahoo group is moderated by officers. We still have the benefits of a mailing list, but everything sent has to be approved by officers.

CO-SIGN

Okay, how do we fix this?

What if the competition was something like points for the most non-chapter members you bring?

I'm not sure that that would really be a solution because then the issue would be whether or not members are asking others to lie as wel or pressuring them into it. It was mentioned that this problem of pressuring members into donating blood occurs in other organizations on that campus (and perhaps other campuses as well).

Someone had mentioned that points were given somewhere else for members who tried but were unable to donate...for whatever reason. I think if the blood drive competition is going to remain, then that would be the best solution. That way the organizations could still receive their points and wouldn't have to put their members, and the recipients of the blood, at risk.

Pressure to give blood doesn't just happen with Greeks -- I remember some pretty intense pressure to give blood my senior year in high school, too. Our student council organized a blood drive, and I was friends with a lot of the student council members so they all kept pressuring me to donate -- even after my doctor had forbid it for medical reasons (low blood pressure or low blood sugar or something along those lines) AND my track coach had forbid it because we had practice that afternoon and a meet the next day and she'd seen too many kids passing out in the middle of practice because they had donated blood earlier that day. Apparently neither of these were good enough excuses. ;)

Our blood drives for Homecoming offer the option to get participation points if you go and volunteer for an hour, but a lot of the times they're so flooded with volunteers that they don't even need us.

Girls are rough on each other.

I have heard Geeeks at penn state say that the dance-a-thon has become a monster with enormous social pressure to raise a lot of money.

IMHO if any activity requires that degree of pressure to do something so time consuming or invasive . . . it needs to be reconsidered as a worthwhile activity.

I don't think a blood drive should ever be a competition. It's just too...I don't know, *squicky* or something. Giving blood should be a personal decision, not something that's done because of peer pressure.

Completely agree.

I donate platlets (which help clotting) rather than whole blood most of the time-- which means that I get my red blood cells *back* during the prodedure. It also means that you sit in that chair for a long time-- I've been in the donation chair for 90 minutes sometimes, because it's a more complicated procedure. And not as many people donate them-- often because you can't really do the procedure at the campus blood drives-- it requires a more expensive machine.

Because I'm getting my red blood cells back, donation times are much more frequent. I make a monthly trip to downtown Boston, watch a movie on the pay-per-view screens they have set up, and have gotten used to the whole ordeal.

It's not for everyone. But I can do it, and I'm willing. So I choose to.

However, no one should ever be forced to donate blood. It's a good thing to do, and it's something I believe everyone (who is physically capable) should do at least twice per year... but I respect those who aren't able for whatever reason.

And I am squeamish about needles-- I still can't look at them! :)

~ Mel.

A misguide sense of responsibility! Way over the top!:(

Not indicative of GPB on any campus, or The National or any GPB on GC!!

Now there is talk of expullsion! From School, U. Mo. and maybe GPB!:o

Does anyone know the difference between Expullsion and being expelled?:confused:

Big difference!