Lifeline Blood Services visited UTM from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 1 and 2, for this year’s UTM vs. Murray State University Blood Battle.

The competition has been going on for the past nine years, said Steve Vantrease, director of the UC. Each year UTM students compete with Murray State students to find out which school can donate the most blood. Each student at UTM was given a free T-shirt and ice cream coupon for his or her participation.

Lifeline employee Tonya Johnson said over 351 UTM students participated with nearly 250 students who were actually allowed to give blood. Each student who donates gives about one pint of blood.

"It's been a good turnout this time in general, better than last year," said Teresa Priddy, RN, the Lifeline Mobile Coordinator. "It seems like everyone is really hyped up this year."

Reasons someone would not be able to donate include cold, flu, diabetes, antibiotics and bodypiercings or tattooing in the past 12 months.

Laura Brown, a sophomore Primary Education major from Milan, was one of the students who donated for the battle. When asked why she donated, she replied, "I can spare it and others need it."

Murray State donates to the Western Kentucky Regional Blood Center, which gets together with Lifeline to determine which school had more participants. Last year Murray State won the battle and UTM won in 2001. Vantrease says he expects the results of the battle to be determined, in the next few weeks.

The donation process includes, first, completing a health history questionnaire and a screening interview. The next step involves a brief physical exam to test for anemia (a deficiency of red blood cells),to find your pulse and to check your blood pressure. If everything is in order after this process, about one pint of blood is drawn from the donor, refreshments are served and the donor remains seated for 10 minutes. The entire process takes less than an hour. You must meet the health requirements, be 17 years old, and weigh at least 110 pounds.

You must wait 56 days between each donation. If you have any questions about Lifeline blood donation you can look the agency up on the Web at www.lifelinebloodserv.org or you can call them at 800-924-6572.

If you are interested in donating, Lifeline will return to campus Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 1 and 2, and set up on the UC patio from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.