Hoping to establish a timeline for a review of the Food and Drug Administration’s blood donation policies, SJSU President Don Kassing met with agency officials in Washington D.C. last week and left “a little disappointed, a little frustrated,” Vice President Larry Carr said. No timeline was established.
Carr, who was also at the meeting, said FDA officials emphasized that the agency was a mechanism of regulation, not research, and that current medical science justifies its protocols.
“They believe it is not their responsibility to go look for new science or technology,” Carr said. “They’ll let the science change the policy when the science is ready. They leave that up to the private market.”
An FDA policy in effect since 1983 defers for life any male who has had sexual contact with another male “even once” since 1977. According to the FDA, the policy works to prevent the transmission of the AIDS virus and hepatitis B, and is based on multi-tiered risk assessment models.
Kassing suspended the organization of blood drives on campus property Jan. 29 stating that the policy was in violation of the university’s nondiscrimination code.
“Kassing doesn’t have any reason coming out of that meeting to change the position that San Jose State has and we will continue to have this suspension,” Carr said. “The FDA’s policy, whether backed by science or not, is in conflict with our nondiscrimination policy.”
- Michael Rizzo, Spartan Daily Project Manager
Related Stories:
Feb. 25, 2008: Kassing requests FDA to meet about blood drives
Feb. 18, 2008: Board slams FDA policy
Feb. 14, 2008: Campus Voices: Do you agree with SJSU’s ban on blood drives?
Feb. 13, 2008: University stands alone in blood policy
Feb. 13, 2008: President fields questions from campus media
Feb. 13, 2008: Opinion: Making sense out of blood drive nonsense
Feb. 12, 2008: Controversy no longer local
Feb. 7, 2008: Plot thickens in wake of blood drive suspension
Feb. 7, 2008: Where to donate blood off campus
Feb. 7, 2008: Opinion: This Queer Life: Bad Blood
Feb. 4, 2008: President halts blood drives; policy questioned
Feb. 4, 2008: Opinion: Making a deadly situation worse
Jan. 30, 2008: Blood drives stopped
Poll: Do you agree with SJSU’s blood drive ban?
Other Links:
Jan. 29 Letter from President Kassing
Other links from the President’s office
Feb. 21 Letter from President Kassing
Former SJSU photojournalism professor Joe Swan, 78, died Sunday.
Swan taught in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications from 1963 to 1991.
Within the last year, Swan had both legs amputated and was on dialysis, a process of filtration used when the kidneys stop working, because of complications from diabetes.
He stopped dialysis over one month ago.
Click here to read a profile of Swan from the Feb 20. Spartan Daily.
A March 4 article titled “Dispute over UPD incident” reported on an altercation between part-time dance lecturer Heather Cooper and Sgt. John Laws. Laws arrested Cooper on Feb. 19 for “resisting and delaying a police officer,” as she, according to Laws, attempted to approach a tow truck driver who was to impound her unregistered vehicle.Cooper, though, said she was actually walking to her car to get her child car seats.The altercation resulted with Cooper on the ground and two different accounts of the incident.A subsequent grievance has been filed with faculty affairs, said Johnathan Karpf, a faculty rights committee member. The grievance seeks compensation for Cooper’s medical expenses and attorney fees.The Spartan Daily is currently active in following the original article with accompanying developments in the situation.The grievance, which pertains to an SJSU personnel matter, may prove difficult to detail because of personnel confidentiality.As of now, Sgt. Laws is still an active-duty officer with the UPD. There have been no criminal or civil charges filed against him.The Spartan Daily will follow this matter closely as it involves the reputations of two State employees.
SJSU President Don Kassing released a statement today affirming his decision to ban blood drives on campus.
“Please be assured I remain steadfast in my belief that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s lifetime blood donor deferral affecting gay men violates our non-discrimination policy. Our policy is much more than a regulation. It is an expression of values we all share, most notably our core belief that people must be treated as individuals, free of prejudice.”
SJSU’s blood drive ban has become a national issue, with critics raising concerns about the risk to blood supplies needed by area hospitals.
Kassing responds by saying that students and staff are still able to donate blood in other places.
“Like many of you, I am very concerned that our position will reduce the amount of blood available to people in need. I ask that you be guided by your personal responsibilities to family and community and by your own values in deciding whether to give blood off-campus while SJSU awaits the FDA’s response.”
Click here to read Kassing’s full statement.
Related Stories:
Feb. 18, 2008: Board slams FDA policy
Feb. 14, 2008: Campus Voices: Do you agree with SJSU’s ban on blood drives?
Feb. 13, 2008: University stands alone in blood policy
Feb. 13, 2008: President fields questions from campus media
Feb. 13, 2008: Opinion: Making sense out of blood drive nonsense
Feb. 12, 2008: Controversy no longer local
Feb. 7, 2008: Plot thickens in wake of blood drive suspension
Feb. 7, 2008: Where to donate blood off campus
Feb. 7, 2008: Opinion: This Queer Life: Bad Blood
Feb. 4, 2008: President halts blood drives; policy questioned
Feb. 4, 2008: Opinion: Making a deadly situation worse
Jan. 30, 2008: Blood drives stopped
Poll: Do you agree with SJSU’s blood drive ban?
Other Links:
Letter from President Kassing
Other links from the President’s office
Check theSpartanDaily.com this evening for a video of a press conference with SJSU President Don Kassing.
Update: Click here to watch the video.
Monday, February 11 is the last day to add classes. Visit my.sjsu.edu to make sure your schedule is right before the deadline passes.
Click here for the current academic calendar.
Stories:
Feb. 7, 2008: Plot thickens in wake of blood drive suspension
Feb. 7, 2008: Where to donate blood off campus
Feb. 4, 2008: President halts blood drives; policy questioned
Jan. 30, 2008: Blood drives stopped
Feb. 7, 2008: Opinion: This Queer Life: Bad Blood
Feb. 4, 2008: Opinion: Making a deadly situation worse
Poll: Do you agree with SJSU’s blood drive ban?
Other Links:
Letter from President Kassing
Other links from the President’s office
Californians go to the polls today to vote in the presidential primary. Most polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Visit the Secretary of State’s Web site for more information on the election. Students that live in Santa Clara County can check the Registrar of Voters Web site to find their polling places. Check today’s Spartan Daily and theSpartanDaily.com for a voter guide and more election coverage.
The Cultural Heritage Center at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library held the fifth annual King birthday celebration last Friday. The event included the second Martin Luther King freedom march.
Kathryn Blackmer Reyes, the director of the Cultural Heritage Center, explained that the event was held in February because it is Black History Month, even though King’s birthday is in January. The later date allows SJSU students and faculty on campus the chance to participate.
Check tomorrow’s Spartan Daily for more information on King’s birthday celebration and freedom march.
- By Kimberly Tsao, Spartan Daily Staff Writer
Dayana Salazar, the chair of SJSU’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning, has been named as the new executive director of CommUniverCity San Jose.
The community service organization is a joint project of SJSU, the City of San Jose and neighborhood groups.
Salazar, who was one of the founders of the group, replaces Terry Christensen, who has led the organization since it started two-and-a-half years ago.
“Serving as your Executive Director has been one of the highlights of my long career at SJSU and in our community,” Christensen said in an e-mail to supporters.
“Now the time has come for me to return to teaching – my first and longest love. But this is not goodbye. I will continue to participate in CommUniverCity as a project director, adviser and fundraiser. “
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