FRIDAY February 8, 2013 Vol. 28•No. 12 ••• $1.25 inc. H.S.T.
COMOX VALLEY
ARTS
SPORTS
The Strathcona Symphony Orchestra will emphasize waltzes, romance and sweets with An Affair in the Afternoon. page B1
The Vanier Towhees dropped a 78-62 decision to the Semiahmoo Totems in senior boys basketball. page B9
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Bloody battle has begun Renee Andor Record Staff
THE COURTENAY TRAIN Station’s Wayne Murphy says the station’s roof has been leaking for five or six years. The damage on the ceiling behind him is on the main floor; the upper floor where the caretaker lives has much more extensive damage. See ‘Courtenay’, page A2. PHOTO BY RENEE ANDOR
A blood feud is brewing between the Comox Valley’s three secondary schools. Well, maybe not quite, but Mark R. Isfeld, Highland and Vanier secondary schools are competing to see which school can generate the most blood donors by the end of May. The challenge kicked off Tuesday during a blood donor clinic at the Florence Filberg Centre, and Vanier leadership program director Tim Krutzmann says students are enthusiastic. “The kids are completely eager about this,” he says. “They jumped on board right away, and one of the things that we really push in the leadership program at Vanier is social activism, and this was just a perfect example of how young Canadians can get involved for the betterment of their country.” Canadian Blood Services media spokesperson Chris Barron says new donors, and especially younger donors, are vitally important to generate blood donations. “It’s everything to us really,” he says. “We are at a critical point in our blood donor timeframe where a lot of our core donors are aging out — becoming net users as opposed to net donors — so over the next five years we’re going to have to start seeing about 100,000 new donors a year every year, 89,000 this year, so having these students come in as first-time donors is huge for Canadian Blood Services.”
GRADE 12 G.P. VANIER student Danial McGuire gives blood at the Florence Filberg Centre in Courtenay. The Comox Valley’s three secondary schools, Mark R. Isfeld, Highland and Vanier, are challenging one another to see which school generates the most blood donors by the end of May. PHOTO BY RENEE ANDOR He adds only about 50 per cent of Canadians are able to donate blood due do various reasons such as geographical challenges around where clinics are held or medications they may be on. Further, only about four per cent of Canadians actually donate blood. “So four per cent of Canadians are supplying blood for the entirety,” he adds. “If our blood donor population is getting to a point where they’re aging out, the majority of them are falling off the back end, we really need to bump up the new
ones, the front end ones, so the 17- to 24-year-olds, so secondary and post-secondary students, are really a huge focus for us.” Vanier Grade 12 student April Cockerill, student organizer for the school, says some students were a bit hesitant at first but they have been encouraging each other. “Everyone’s pretty much afraid of needles but … I just told them that one pint of blood can save three lives and they’re like, ‘Oh, OK,’ so they warmed up to it and they started signing up,” ... see ISFELD ■ A7
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