Good Deeds: December 2007 Archives
College students giving up something they love for a bigger cause? It happened right here in Cullowhee, as students, faculty and staff at Western Carolina University pledged themselves to a day of "fasting" to help members of the conflict-stricken area of Darfur in the African country of Sudan. Each participant agreed to forego something for the day -- perhaps a meal or even just a snack -- and then donate to the cause the money that would have been paid.
The Fast Day was held on Wednesday, December 5, the day that Darfur's case was presented to the United Nations, where advocates asked for UN and African Union peacekeeping troops in Darfur. The conflict in Darfur is a politically charged, long-running strife between factions of Sudan's government. Millions of persons have been killed, wounded or rendered homeless.
The movement, begun by WCU freshman Katy Elders, attracted prominent members of the community and campus. Their organized effort is pursuant to international guidelines for a "STAND" club (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur). STAND's faculty adviser is Steve Carlisle, who is Associate Dean of the Honors College and Director of the Humanities Program.
Students staffed an information booth on Fast Day on the front lawn of WCU's University Center. Already the effort had generated more than $600 through collections on campus and at booths that were set up by WCU students near Ingles and Wal-Mart in Sylva.
Elders says the focus of the group in the future is to provide information, outreach and education, with fundraising as a secondary but still important goal. Future plans include educational programs in local schools, including Smoky Mountain High School, advocacy initiatives, a student movement to write federal congressional representatives and senators, advocating for genocide education in public schools, and working with the student-run Last Minute Productions group at WCU to put on a benefit concert in the spring.
For more information about Darfur, STAND recommends www.standnow.org or www.savedarfur.org. Also, stories about Darfur have been featured recently at www.bbc.com, www.usatoday.com, and www.msnbc.com.
For more information on pledging or donating to the WCU effort, contact Elders at cullowheesavesdarfur@gmail.com.
The Fast Day was held on Wednesday, December 5, the day that Darfur's case was presented to the United Nations, where advocates asked for UN and African Union peacekeeping troops in Darfur. The conflict in Darfur is a politically charged, long-running strife between factions of Sudan's government. Millions of persons have been killed, wounded or rendered homeless.
The movement, begun by WCU freshman Katy Elders, attracted prominent members of the community and campus. Their organized effort is pursuant to international guidelines for a "STAND" club (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur). STAND's faculty adviser is Steve Carlisle, who is Associate Dean of the Honors College and Director of the Humanities Program.
Students staffed an information booth on Fast Day on the front lawn of WCU's University Center. Already the effort had generated more than $600 through collections on campus and at booths that were set up by WCU students near Ingles and Wal-Mart in Sylva.
Elders says the focus of the group in the future is to provide information, outreach and education, with fundraising as a secondary but still important goal. Future plans include educational programs in local schools, including Smoky Mountain High School, advocacy initiatives, a student movement to write federal congressional representatives and senators, advocating for genocide education in public schools, and working with the student-run Last Minute Productions group at WCU to put on a benefit concert in the spring.
For more information about Darfur, STAND recommends www.standnow.org or www.savedarfur.org. Also, stories about Darfur have been featured recently at www.bbc.com, www.usatoday.com, and www.msnbc.com.
For more information on pledging or donating to the WCU effort, contact Elders at cullowheesavesdarfur@gmail.com.
Your vote in an online contest could help WestCare Health System win an MRI (magnetic resonant imaging) machine for Swain County Hospital in Bryson City.
An MRI is an expensive medical technology device that scans a patient's body and provides interior views of living tissues, enabling physicians to diagnose and monitor disease.
Nearly 100 other hospitals are competing against WestCare for the new MRI machine, manufactured by Seimens Medical Corporation. Only hospitals of less than 180 beds that have no fixed-installation MRI machine are eligible.
Each hospital has created its own video (no music, film or video professional services were allowed). The video receiving the most votes via a Web page wins. To view the videos and vote for WestCare's video, point your web browser to www.WinAnMRI.com (click here).
The last day to vote is December 31, but you can vote more than once. The contest's rules allow each person to vote once per day.
The Web page includes these details: "One hospital in America will win a free MAGNETOM Essenza, an all-new 1.5T MRI. This powerful diagnostic tool can help improve the quality of care for friends, families, and neighbors in your community. View the videos and vote for the hospital who has the most compelling argument for why they should win." The page includes a link to a page in the Products and Solutions department of Siemen's Web site with a photo of the product. No price is given, although it is described as being the "most affordable all-new 1.5T MRI." A trade magazine (click) describes the unit as being priced "as much as $500,000 below similar 1.5 Tesla systems, making it the least expensive of the new 1.5T brands."
WestCare has one fixed-installation MRI and one mobile MRI in use at Harris Regional Hospital in Jackson County. A mobile MRI is taken to WestCare's Swain County Hospital every other week. If Swain County Hospital can obtain its own MRI, Swain County emergency patients would not need to come to Jackson County for MRI work, and Swain's regular patients would not need to wait for the mobile unit's scheduled visits.
"Having an on-site MRI machine at Swain County Hospital would eliminate the waiting period that patients in our area often face when their doctor orders an MRI. We serve a very large region of Western North Carolina and an on-site MRI machine would provide our physicians with the information they need in order to diagnose patients faster and begin treatment sooner, which leads to better care," said Ronnie Sloan, administrator of Swain County Hospital.
More information is available from WestCare at 586-7404.
As of December 5, the contest's Web page reported that Westcare's video had 295 votes. The leading contestant was Sumter Regional Hospital of Americus, Georgia, with 167,965 votes.
Although the MRI to be given to the winner is manufactured by Siemens, the contest is administered by Elite Marketing Communications of Orlando, Florida. The contest's web page includes a link to tips for contestants, which recommends using the popular YouTube video site and contacting local community groups and organizations.
Shown below: U.S. Congressman Heath Shuler casts his vote online for WestCare's video on Friday, Nov. 30, when he visited Harris Regional Hospital to participate in WestCare's celebration of National Home Health and Hospice Month.
An MRI is an expensive medical technology device that scans a patient's body and provides interior views of living tissues, enabling physicians to diagnose and monitor disease.
Nearly 100 other hospitals are competing against WestCare for the new MRI machine, manufactured by Seimens Medical Corporation. Only hospitals of less than 180 beds that have no fixed-installation MRI machine are eligible.
Each hospital has created its own video (no music, film or video professional services were allowed). The video receiving the most votes via a Web page wins. To view the videos and vote for WestCare's video, point your web browser to www.WinAnMRI.com (click here).
The last day to vote is December 31, but you can vote more than once. The contest's rules allow each person to vote once per day.
The Web page includes these details: "One hospital in America will win a free MAGNETOM Essenza, an all-new 1.5T MRI. This powerful diagnostic tool can help improve the quality of care for friends, families, and neighbors in your community. View the videos and vote for the hospital who has the most compelling argument for why they should win." The page includes a link to a page in the Products and Solutions department of Siemen's Web site with a photo of the product. No price is given, although it is described as being the "most affordable all-new 1.5T MRI." A trade magazine (click) describes the unit as being priced "as much as $500,000 below similar 1.5 Tesla systems, making it the least expensive of the new 1.5T brands."
WestCare has one fixed-installation MRI and one mobile MRI in use at Harris Regional Hospital in Jackson County. A mobile MRI is taken to WestCare's Swain County Hospital every other week. If Swain County Hospital can obtain its own MRI, Swain County emergency patients would not need to come to Jackson County for MRI work, and Swain's regular patients would not need to wait for the mobile unit's scheduled visits.
"Having an on-site MRI machine at Swain County Hospital would eliminate the waiting period that patients in our area often face when their doctor orders an MRI. We serve a very large region of Western North Carolina and an on-site MRI machine would provide our physicians with the information they need in order to diagnose patients faster and begin treatment sooner, which leads to better care," said Ronnie Sloan, administrator of Swain County Hospital.
More information is available from WestCare at 586-7404.
As of December 5, the contest's Web page reported that Westcare's video had 295 votes. The leading contestant was Sumter Regional Hospital of Americus, Georgia, with 167,965 votes.
Although the MRI to be given to the winner is manufactured by Siemens, the contest is administered by Elite Marketing Communications of Orlando, Florida. The contest's web page includes a link to tips for contestants, which recommends using the popular YouTube video site and contacting local community groups and organizations.
Shown below: U.S. Congressman Heath Shuler casts his vote online for WestCare's video on Friday, Nov. 30, when he visited Harris Regional Hospital to participate in WestCare's celebration of National Home Health and Hospice Month.
