Raising awareness with style

For the students in Deborah Silverman's advanced communication class, a semester's worth of work to increase awareness of organ tissue donation will culminate Monday in a fashionable walk down the runway.

From noon to 2 p.m. in the Student Union lobby, Silverman's class will put in a fashion show to cap a semester-long advertising campaign. The organ tissue donation awareness project is the third campaign in three years for Silverman, a professor in the communication department.

According to Silverman, funding for the project is part of a federal research grant of from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services given to UB, SUNY Albany and the New York Alliance for donation.

The New York Alliance is a statewide organization for organ donation awareness, and the COM453 class was allotted $2,250 of the grant money.

Aside from organ donation awareness, the purpose of the campaign is to study the effectiveness of student-run public relations campaigns, and the students have been in complete control.

"The purpose was to find out how effective student-designed research PR campaigns are to create awareness about organ donation among college students," Silverman said. "Every aspect of this campaign is being carefully researched and documented."

Silverman said organ tissue donation is a worthy cause for the class's PR campaign.

"There is a great need for organ donation in the (United States). There are over 87,000 people waiting for an organ on the transplant list," she said. "Everyday 17 people die."

Additionally, there is a three to five-year waiting period for people who are in need of organs, and one person can save up to eight people and enhance the lives of 50 or more, according to www.uborgandonation.org.

"We're trying to educate students that there is a need, whether or not they sign the card," Silverman said.

Students in the class have been spreading the word by handing out brochures and fact sheets across the North and South campuses. Others have talked to students in large classes and advertised on Channel 2 Daybreak.

The class also created an informational video with first-hand accounts of people affected by organ tissue donation and the awareness website, www.uborgandonation.org.

On Monday, napkins advertising organ tissue donation will be given out at the Campus Caf?(c), and there will be the fashion show in the Student Union to grab students' attention.

DJ Anthony from KISS 98.5 will be DJ-ing with Charles Master. The Gap, Tuxedo Junction, TT New York and Damsel in a Dress have donated the fashions that will be modeled by students and professors.

"We wanted to make people stop," Silverman said.

Senior communication major Don Paddock came up with the idea for the fashion show. Paddock said first-hand accounts of local individuals affected by organ tissue donation have helped fuel his efforts.

"I signed a card last year but I didn't know about the facts," he said. "After you hear the stories and how one person's tragedy helped benefit five other families, it was a no-brainer to really get involved in the campaign. It puts the reality of it in your own community."

With a current total of 139 signed donor cards, Allison Reis, a senior communications major and vice president of the Communication Undergraduate Student Association, said their efforts so far have been successful.

"A lot of students have been interested in the cause and have been interested in donating," she said, adding she is confident the class will reach their goal of 300 signed donor cards.

According to Paddock, the class's goal is to at least get students to discuss the issue with loved ones.

"Ultimately, we want people talking to their families so their families know their wishes," he said.

Samantha Kayser, a senior communications major, said students are usually nervous to discuss organ donation when they are first approached, and they have attempted to calm those fears.

"It's a wonderful gift to be able to help so many people. Their families are never going to forget what you did," Kayser said. "What better way to leave your mark on the world."