Donors needed: Plasma challenge 2000

By Asha Tomlinson

UPEI faculty, staff, and students will be competing 5 - The L students will berollingup _ forprizes. eee their sleeves this week to Transportation to donate plasma at the PEI and from the centre will be Plasma Centre. provided. A donor’s first WINDSOR, ON Organizershave set —_ ViSit to the plasma centre (CUP) - As the a goal of forty students and _ will take approximately Windsor police van forty faculty and staff two and a half hours, drove from the road donors for the week of followed by subsequent onto the field of grass, March 6" to March 10%, —_ visits ofonly one hour. Jason Gooding and his Asan incentive to encour- Student, faculty and four friends became age campus community _ Staff need not worry about apprehensive. members to participate, the donating plasma. They knew they university is offering staff “This procedure is had done nothing wrong, one and a half hours of completely safe,” says but the white police paid time offtoallowthem Trina Smith, of the PEI officer thought they to donate during work Plasma Centre. “Donors looked suspicious. hours, or the equivalent describe the experience as He asked the five time off if staff choose to both satisfying and re- black males if they were donate on their own time. warding. Besides, where concealing liquor to To encourage residence else can you save up to bring to the party. They students to participate, four lives in an hour?” said they had none. "Do you want things to be done the Important Donar information hard way or the easy

-must be between the ages of 17 & 70 -wait 56 days from last whole blood donation

-wait one year from date of last tBnOp or body piercing -eat a low-fat diet 24 bourse prior to donating ~

-wait three days atta dental ne ment

-weigh at least 110lbs

-bring a picture ID & the name/s of any medications that you are pres- ently taking

-if you have spent six months CUMU- LATIVE in the UK since January 1, 1980, you are not eligible to donate plasma

way?" the officer asked.

The men continued to deny the alleged charges until the unsatisfied officer searched the men and found nothing.

Four New York City police officers were looking fora rapist when they saw Amadou Diallo, a West African immigrant, in front of the entrance of his apartment.

According to the

i | officers, he looked

suspicious and as he removed a dark object

~ | from his right side the

officers assumed it was a gun and shot at Diallo 41 times. In trial they

Students enraged by police racial profiling

claimed it was a case of mistaken identity.

The recent acquittal of these four officers in the fatal shooting has raised questions about the safety of black men in the hands of police. Many say Diallo was killed because he fit police's typical description of a suspect: he was black.

Gooding, a third- year University of Windsor student, recalls times he has been stopped by police and says he can relate to the Diallo case. He says racial profiling has been in existence for a long time.

"This 'mistake' has happened too many times before to black men," he

said. "These guys on the police force have the same

type of mentality towards blacks. It doesn't only happen in New York,

it's a universal thing."

Gooding says the incident has him fearful for his own life.

"[Asa black man it] makes you scared, you could be next and for doing nothing, for being in the —

wrong place at the wrong

time. You could die over a routine traffic stop." -

Michael Graham, a second-year criminology student, says he has to be cautious of his actions when stopped by police.

"T feel like I have to make sure my moves are slow and deliberate," he said. "If you do anything quickly you become fearful that they will get violent with you."

Rose Voyvodic, a human rights officer at the University of Windsor, has no doubt about the racial undertones behind Diallo's death.

She says it is not possible to overlook the race issue when dealing with black culture.

"A black male in this society is a suspect," said Voyvodic. "There are many cultural studies that have indicated that people tend to suspect a visible minority."

The Street Crime Unit (SCU) in New York consists of nearly 400 officers and they prowl the streets at night looking for criminals. They are given the freedom to harass, search and make arrests.

Since the SCU has been implemented the city's murder rate has decreased and the gun arrests have increased. All four officers had fairly clean and commendable records before the Diallo trial.

Some feel they were just doing their job. Others believe it was murder.

"They were shooting to kill," said Marsha Robinson, a fourth-year communication studies student. "It was murder and it was based on race. It boggles my mind that they got off, but then again it doesn't surprise me."

Naomi Owusu- Ampong, co-president for the African Students Association at the

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