Nineteen universities, including traditional basketball powerhouses like Duke and Indiana universities, are participating in Points for Pints, a competition sponsored by the Red Cross. The program started Oct. 1 and runs through April 1 in conjunction with the 2001-02 basketball season.
As part of the program, every unit of blood donated by the students, faculty and staff of a university during the basketball season will be worth a point in the competition.
Points for Pints founder Naveen Rao said universities with large student populations and strong basketball programs were chosen to participate. "Basketball is a unifying force at all the schools (in the competition), and we wanted to feed off the competitive spirit," said Rao, who also is the Duke Red Cross Club president.
Karen Kuchenreuther, the co-chairwoman of UNC's Points for Pints program, said the competition's goal is to raise awareness about the need for blood donations and to get more college students to participate in blood drives.
In addition to the number of pints donated, each university must improve on its percentage of blood donors from last year to win the competition, Kuchenreuther said. Every university's target is a 20 percent participation rate.
Kuchenreuther said she thinks UNC has a good chance of reaching its goal. "UNC has one of the highest blood donor populations out of the other universities in the competition. Last year we had 13 percent, which is great, and we should be able to improve upon that this year."
UNC's participation in the program began in November. The next event will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. today in the Great Hall, located in the Student Union. Kuchenreuther said organizers have advertised at basketball ticket distributions, and they were recently granted permission by the Department of Athletics to advertise at home basketball games.
Kuchenreuther said men's basketball coach Matt Doherty has been supportive of the program and that he and two assistant coaches donated at a recent blood drive. With more advertising, she hopes to increase participation from other members of the athletic department.
Kuchenreuther said holding Points for Pints during the basketball season will raise awareness about the importance of blood donations. "UNC has a strong basketball program and a competitive nature," she said. "When we compete in anything, whether it's basketball or blood, we want to be the best."
