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Efforts intensify to find donor for Schwartz '11
By Alison Griswold
Staff Reporter
The Yale Daily News
Published Monday, June 7, 2010
Time is ticking to find a donor for Mandi Schwartz ’11, the women’s hockey forward who has battled leukemia on and off for nearly 18 months. As the search becomes increasingly critical, efforts to find Schwartz a matching marrow or cord blood donor have intensified.
“It’s pretty urgent right now,” head women’s hockey coach Hilary Witt said. “Mandi’s staying tough and doing the best she can, but it’s quite a battle for her. She’s staying as strong as she can, and she’s an...
#1 By Faculty 8:24p.m. on June 8, 2010
She took a course from me. Wonderful person -- hoping this all works out for her.
#2 By old blue 5:47p.m. on June 9, 2010
The idea of donating cord blood should be better publicized within hospitals and prenatal classes - seems like very few expectant mothers are aware of the value of these donations.
#3 By Devin 10:10p.m. on June 10, 2010
Mandi I hope you are able to find a donor.
#4 By Sarah 8:57a.m. on June 11, 2010
To old blue - the idea of collecting / donating cord blood is discussed a bit in prenatal classes. What never seems to be discussed is who would pay for the $2,000 (ish) that it costs. You might get more expectant moms to consider this if they don't have to pick up such a large expense.
#5 By Heidi 9:08a.m. on June 12, 2010
The cord blood donation in this case is free for expectant couples, thanks to the efforts of Dr. Ted Collins' foundation, Natasha's Place (www.natashasplace.org). Normally cord blood collection companies don't process the paperwork after 34 weeks gestation, but they're making an exception in this case. I am expecting any day now, and managed to get a kit delivered in just 3 days. One final hurdle is that the cord blood can't be collected between 3pm on Fri and 3pm on Sun -- doing my best not to go into labor this weekend. :)
#6 By @Sarah 11:01a.m. on June 12, 2010
I believe that the cost only applies if you intend to keep the cord blood for potential use by your own family. If you're donating it for use by others in need, I don't think there's any charge.
#7 By Bill 12:38a.m. on June 14, 2010
With her brother being a likely 2010 draft pick and the CBC and HNiC already involved, I assume that the whole NHL junior hockey community is involved. I say this because top prospect Erik Gudbranson's younger brother suffered from the same disease and I would assume that he would take a personal interest in Mandi's situation as well.
#8 By ESPN 9:25p.m. on June 15, 2010
Story featured on ESPN: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5288507
#9 By Yalie '04 4:06p.m. on June 18, 2010
The thing that is infrequently said with respect to cord blood donation is that many collection protocols call for the cord to be clamped immediately after birth. Immediate cord clamping deprives the newborn of blood. I wonder whether the organization that is seeking cord blood donation allows delayed cord clamping (that is, until the cord stops pulsating) as part of the collection process.
#10 By Yalie MD 11:01p.m. on June 19, 2010
Yalie '04 what the hell are you talking about? The umbilical cord is clamped right after birth with no ill efects on the baby. The baby starts breathing immediately and doesn't need any oxygen from the mother after that point. The baby has its own blood and never receives any blood from the mother. It only receives oxygen from mom and this is no longer needed outside the womb where there is air available. Were you trying to say something different because your point doesn't make sense.
#11 By YDN Update 12:35p.m. on June 26, 2010
Any update on this?
#12 By @ #11 9:08p.m. on June 29, 2010
Last I heard, she's scheduled for a transplant via a partial match in early September or so. A partial match is better than nothing, but it would be very nice to find a better fit.
If you know people of Ukrainian, Russian or German heritage, mention it to them - pregnant mothers of that lineage may be able to donate cord blood and save a life.
#13 By Y2010 9:55a.m. on July 1, 2010
I know a few people of that heritage who might be willing to donate bone marrow. What information can I give them about how to register to be a donor?
#14 By @ Y2010 4:00p.m. on July 1, 2010
Even with that heritage, it's by no means likely that they're a match - but it would be fantastic if they wish to get registered. All it takes is a cheek swab. The primary source of information for registering is the National Marrow Donor Program at:
http://www.marrow.org/
From that website, they can find additional information including local drives where they can get the swab test done.
I believe in Mandi's case, since it's imminent, they're now looking for cord blood from expectant mothers. In case any of the people you know are pregnant, here's a link with more information specifically on Mandi's case:
http://www.becomemandishero.org
If you have more questions, just ask. I don't know Mandi and don't have any official information on her, but it's clearly a great and urgent cause.
(And if you're on campus I can give you some small flyers with information, too.)
#15 By Anon Mother of an Infant 3:14p.m. on July 8, 2010
At the time I was researching donation in late 2009 there were no cord blood banks in the area that would take the cord blood from my newborn as a donation. My OB even said he would be willing to waive their cord blood collection fees if they were collecting for donation, but I was unable to find a cord blood bank that accepted donor cord blood. There are plenty willing to take the blood (and substantial fees) to store for use by my own family, but I consider that to be a waste of a potentially life-saving resource (the cord blood) and a waste of money.
#16 By Yalie '04 11:21a.m. on July 12, 2010
@#10 Yalie MD: I am just now seeing your post. Immediate cord clamping deprives the newborn of blood that would otherwise flow from the placenta. (I never said anything about blood from the mother.) There are many scholarly articles that discuss the potential benefits of delayed cord clamping. Why not use your alleged physician access to read some?
#17 By Yale M.D. 9:50p.m. on July 25, 2010
Again, Yalie '04- you have no idea what you are talking about? How much blood do you think is in the placenta that doesn't get back to the baby? Not very much. OBs have been cutting the umbilical cord right after birth for time immemorial with no ill-effects on the baby. So please, enlighten me with one of these scholarly articles about delayed cord clamping and how beneficial it is. Post a link to an article so I may educate myself.
#18 By PK, M.Div. '80 6:37a.m. on July 28, 2010
Please read the following article in today's (July 28) NYT:
Questions About Yale Cancer Patient’s Benefactor
By THOMAS KAPLAN
The man spearheading the effort to help a Yale hockey player with leukemia has a tangled financial past.
250 staff laid off since May
By Vivian Yee
Staff Reporter
The Yale Daily News
When the dust from Yale's last budget shakeup has settled, the University will have laid off nearly 250 employees — and there may be more to come.
In another round of layoffs that began in May, after the Yale Corporation approved a tightened budget for the next fiscal year, University departments have accepted the voluntary resignations of about 150 staff and cut almost 100 more, University spokesman Tom Conroy said. The latest budget cuts are likely to be the last for the time being, administrators said, but as their effects play out over the next few years, more staff could lose...
#1 By Old Blue 1 12:31a.m. on July 10, 2010
Two words: Raise tuition. Especially in Yale College. Maintain the actual level of tuition for needs-based where it is. But soak the hell out of the legacies, who will pay $10,000 per year more to spare the indignity of sending their child to Penn.
#2 By GoodRiddanceToWorthless 6:44a.m. on July 10, 2010
hopefully they will cut some fat cat "professors" too !
#3 By super 12:11p.m. on July 10, 2010
Hell, cut all of the professors. Just who do they think they are believing that becoming a world expert at an elite university after earning multiple degrees over a decade or more is really worth that "fat" $50k starting salary??!!
Better to hire another admin. The students can teach themselves, what with the internet and everything these days.
#4 By Faculty 5:44p.m. on July 10, 2010
The faculty are now such a small part of the employee numbers at Yale that getting rid of ALL of us would make less difference to the bottom line than relatively modest cuts in administrative ranks.
#5 By @#4 By Faculty 9:56p.m. on July 10, 2010
You guys can't tie your shoes without an administrator, or an associate dean arranging a symposium, or turn on your computer.
There are a lot of PhDs who would take a Sterling Chair at half-price, a lot of entry levels who would give anything for a job at Yale. Slash their salaries. Bring in more grad students to do the real teaching so that you can have bigger classes.
#6 By super @#5 11:57a.m. on July 11, 2010
We can't tie our shoes without an associate dean arranging a symposium, or turn on our computer?
Well, you can't even write a coherent sentence. Next time ask a fat-cat professor to help you edit your post!
#7 By Grad student 12:32p.m. on July 11, 2010
@#5, terrible idea.
#8 By #5 2:45p.m. on July 11, 2010
Sorry you hate the faculty so much. But what you advocate would be the end of Yale as a first-class institution. May you should get a job at Q-Pac, you more comfortable with that kind of place.
#9 By 2 live students 4:08p.m. on July 11, 2010
Nobody likes to hear about lay offs, and nobody but nobody would want to see that pink slip in their hands. Handed to you by a recent hire.
We can only hope that the newly unemployed are the most recent hired, or better yet , the ones that cause so much derision , backbiting, slander , and intentionally play for a tumultuous work place, they know who they are.
It's sad that they are the privileged and connected ones. We have heard so many statements directed towards new hires and / or Non Family members , it's unbelievable how that was tolerated.
They only stop when the Nepotism is done , an office is replete with family and friends , Ala Amistad.
#10 By joey '00' 8:42p.m. on July 11, 2010
And 250 more stiffs are lined up on the wall outside Phellps on College St.
Uncanny and downright unnerving the timing of some Union people, how they pull up and meet and greet the union Official and way to chummy Administrators
As they exit the offices almost joined at the head.
#11 By Anonymous 12:42a.m. on July 12, 2010
This is a school. We need faculty and students. We don't need the hordes of people in development, middle management, IT services, etc.
Unfortunately the leadership here seems incapable of making tough decisions - cuts are 'across the board' in the same amount rather than looking at what is useful and what isn't.
#12 By #5 4:46a.m. on July 12, 2010
#8 is not #5, I think you meant @#5. Yes, that sentence could have been more coherent but it got the point across. I wasn't writing an English paper. @#5: I love the faculty. They should take pay cuts if others in the Yale community are absorbing pain. @#7: It's not a terrible idea in this market. The hiring market for you is not what it was 5 years ago. Where things come apart for Yale: when student loan interest rates go up, the tuition climbs will stop. Then the top line for the university just gets flat while expenses rise. Reopen the Kagan-Pollitt plan from 1992- shrink the weaker departments (we all know what they are) and create a smaller, finer Yale.
#13 By Faculty 9:48a.m. on July 12, 2010
Most faculty are painfully aware that in recent years, the university has been taken over by highly-paid management types whose purpose seems to be to struggle for turf with each other. I am not sure who the "fat cat" faculty are, but I know that very few of us earn anything like what the various new vice-presidents earn. Most of us earn substantially less than the *deputies* these new vice presidents bring with them.
And it is not just the cost. These people either don't "get" that it is a university, or actively oppose the basic mission of a university. So, for example, they make it harder to get grants (for no reason: they simply do not cooperate), the grants that support staff directly and indirectly. (For example, I know of some faculty who could not get one of the "stimulus package" grants submitted because the relevant Yale office refused to cooperate.)
So please direct you anger elsewhere. We are not the problem.
#14 By @13 5:01p.m. on July 12, 2010
Most students and administrators are aware that tenured professors have job security through retirement, unlike anyone else in the university. Perhaps out of equity, they could give back some their benefits, given that they have this security. Or perhaps, Yale could initiate a long-overdue wave to abolish tenure, so that we can compensate professors based on merit. Slash deadwood pay, reward productivity and maybe even... teaching ability. In other words, turn academia into a real job. "Oh Cry Me, Academic Freedom!" At what cost?
The faculty is not entirely pure here. Sorry if this anger is ruining your job-secure day, while the rest of the labor force suffers.
#15 By More faculty 7:15p.m. on July 12, 2010
All institutions change. Yale is in the currently process of moving on from being a university to being a brand-based merchandising corporation.
#16 By By @14 8:37p.m. on July 12, 2010
Twice in my career I have turned down offers in industry that would have paid me 2-3 times as much as Yale does. One reason I turned it down was, as you say, job security. But you can't have it both ways: you can't pay us less than industry because we have tenure, and then get angry that we have tenure.
Tenure is a way for a university to *save* money: it allows Yale to attract and retain people who would otherwise cost far more. Abolish it, and you have Q-Pac.
It is sad to me that someone who so hates what Yale stands for apparently works here.
I have a specific suggestion: figure out what Shauna King earns (it is public). Add to that her entire staff, and then compare it to the cost of small departments such as French literature. Which costs more? Which contributes more to the real mission of the place?
BTW, our pay was frozen last year... but the union members got their contractual wage increases.
#17 By @14 10:09p.m. on July 12, 2010
You identify a problem with this country and suggest complicity instead of improving things for everyone else? That's plain stupid, plain unpatriotic, or both. Why don't you go kick a homeless man between the legs while you're at it?
#18 By @14 9:40a.m. on July 13, 2010
To be fair it should be noted that the members of both unions are neither paid nor promoted based on merit and there's plenty of deadwood that's been protected by the unions for years.
#19 By Some animals... 11:14a.m. on July 13, 2010
"Some animals are more equal than others...."
Let us not forget to discuss the fallout from all these departures. The process for consolidating or replacing all the vacancies has settled into the hands of just a few people at this university. These are people whose primary motivation is to justify their existence by manipulating outcomes. Vacant positions aren't even posted at this point, instead favorites are moved around like chess pieces. If you aren't a handpicked BOLT favorite then you're screwed, no matter how good you are.
Time for everyone to revisit "Animal Farm" for a quick read, because Yale is the living breathing model of organizational corruption.
#20 By Hey! 3:34p.m. on July 13, 2010
Tenured faculty are just a part of the faculty population. All the other faculty are just as vulnerable to exploitation as everyone else--worse in fact, since they've set themselves up to be exploited in hopes of getting tenure. Anyone can see how difficult it must be to spend years striving so hard only to get knocked down when you don't get tenure. At least as an M&P, you don't have to put quite so much of yourself on the line. Look, the current situation really sucks for everyone but those belonging to the Corporate Bloat (you know who you are), or those who have tenure or a union to protect them. It is pretty hard not to be bitter about the corporate bloat and a burn rate on consultants comparable to a shuttle liftoff.
If we didn't have YaleNext (and what to show for it, again??) would we be in this situation? I doubt it. But, who's asking the tough questions?
#21 By TC '12 9:51p.m. on July 13, 2010
Yale is not an employment agency, it is a school. As a student who has held several different work-study jobs in various departments, I have noticed that there are lots of people working for Yale who are completely useless.
For example, one of my bosses literally sits at her desk all day making personal phone calls to her extended family and networking within her church. Additionally, many of the dining hall workers spend hours at a time outside, smoking and chatting with their friends who stop by, or talking on their cell phones. The computer clusters in the library are often taken over by bored security guards who would rather play online games and check their email than patrol and do what they're actually supposed to be doing.
I often feel appalled that the hard-earned money that I make doing work-study goes toward paying thousands of dollars in Yale tuition, which will be in turn used to put money into the pockets of hundreds of lazy staff and employees who do nothing.
#22 By Occam 1:01a.m. on July 14, 2010
1. This isn't a "school" anymore, this is a research and clinical operation with a boarding school attached. If you think tuition payments make the place tick you have another think coming.
2. 3400 union members in Local 34 took a pay freeze for 2010. The around 1200 union members in Local 35 got 2% raises this year. That did not break the bank.
3. The University's finances are in roughly the same shape now as they were in mid-2006. The university has also not grown beyond its means in the past four years. So ask yourself if the cuts are about the bottom line, or are about restructuring the institution and steering it in a certain direction. Are these cuts in academic areas? In research? In medical clinics? Look at the answers to those questions and you might get a sense of what the plan is.
4. It probably makes Shauna King very happy to see faculty, students, C&Ts, M&Ps all hoping eachother gets the axe, rather than looking at the leadership of the university to, you know, provide actual leadership.
#23 By Professors? 2:35a.m. on July 14, 2010
I can't believe all the disrespectful posts on here by people claiming to be Faculty. #6 picking on grammar, #16's elitism and direct jibe a Q-Pac. I know this is a contentious issue, but are you really Yale professors? If so, I'm shocked.
#24 By Shhhh 12:21p.m. on July 14, 2010
Check out this job posting:
https://sjobs.brassring.com/1033/asp/tg/cim_jobdetail.asp?jobId=369871&PartnerId=25053&SiteId=5248&type=mail&JobReqLang=1&recordstart=1&JobSiteId=5248&JobSiteInfo=369871_5248&gqid=0
#25 By @Hey! 6:20p.m. on July 14, 2010
Junior faculty buy their tickets and know what they are getting, which is an apprenticeship until you can get tenure at another fine school. Sometimes that is Yale's loss, but believe me, it is an improvement over the way it used to be- you don't want an inbred faculty.
Junior faculty, however, are not the problem. They are the workhorses of the university.
We may need some changes at the top, as the leadership did not insulate Yale from this downturn. Perhaps if we had an economist running the show, we could have seen this... oh wait.
That economist has spent his entire career, grad school, junior fac, tenured fac, chairman, dean, presidency at one institution. Even Joe Torre stayed too long with the Yankees...
#26 By Faculty 9:05p.m. on July 14, 2010
Yes, I am faculty.
Elitism is sort of the whole idea of Yale.
Q-Pac is a terrible school: exactly what you get when the administration dominates the faculty. Which is what we are moving to at Yale.
#27 By Alum 7:48p.m. on July 15, 2010
Great posts by Faculty. I think many people, from students to alumni, have little idea what it really takes to become tenured faculty at Yale, how really selective the process normally is (particularly outside the professional schools) and how truly elite the faculty is.
#28 By @26 @27 10:24p.m. on July 15, 2010
@26 It's not about elitism, it's about snobbery. The whole idea of Yale is not to look down on people, which is what you are doing. "Yes, I am faculty." Right.
@27 It's tough. You have to get into the right grad school, find the right adviser to get you placed for your first job, publish well enough to get tenure somewhere. If you have made it through that gauntlet, usually you have enough love and pride in the academy that you are going to be productive. I would add that getting a job at LAW is incredibly hard, even with NYU / Columbia competing.
#29 By Just wondering. 10:29p.m. on July 15, 2010
Isn't Yale in the middle of a re-certification process by NEASC (New England Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges)?
Doesn't that process have a survey section for faculty to offer anonymous feedback?
Do the faculty sentiments voiced in posts 1-27 here bode well for Yale in that re-certification process?
Just wondering.
PK
M.Div. '80
#30 By Goal of the Academy 9:14a.m. on July 16, 2010
PS:
Tenure exists so that great minds can think without the MINDLESS yakking of mercantilia constantly interrupting their search for the truth.
BTW "Searching for the truth" is the GOAL of the Academy, even if that truth bites the hand that feeds it.
PK
#31 By @#29 2:53p.m. on July 16, 2010
PK - Are you questioning whether the NEASC will pass Yale? Seriously?
32 By Flypaper 7:52p.m. on July 16, 2010
Almost every instiitution 'passes' NEASC.
The big question is how many recommendations (aka 'citations') do you get which REQUIRE action by the mid-term evaluation?
Sometimes this is as few as 16, sometimes it can be 70 or 100.
Responding to these 'recommnedations' is like dancing with fly-paper: incredible nuisance.
From what I read in posts 1-28 there is a sentiment in the faculty that Yale is becoming a tool of the Academic Industrial Complex, is bureaucrat-centered, and is in danger of becoming an instrument of Mercantilia rather than a safe 'haven' for the pursuit of truth.
For NEASC to find a discontented faculty at a school of Yale's stature in the Academy, could be unsettling-----and result in a host of required compliances, of nuisance proportions (square-dancing with flypaper).
PK
#33 By More 2:13p.m. on July 17, 2010
Nobody is being a snob. One poster claimed the way out of our financial problems is to eliminate tenure. I simply pointed out that this would make it harder to hire first-class faculty, and in the end would COST Yale a lot of money. Q-Pac is a good comparison: it is also a private university, but it is run by its president, and faculty there are treated like temps. So they *act* like temps: they spend their time consulting, trying to get a better job, instead of trying to make the place better.
Look at *their* financial situation: they get few grants and have a tiny endowment.
Finally, any Yale employee who wants to work at a place like that should just ask staff at Q-Pac what is like. I know some folks who work in their library and such, and they would move to Yale in a heartbeat if they could.
The "fat-cat" faculty are what make Yale what it is, and, if you ask non-faculty employees of similar places, it's a pretty good place to work. Nobody likes seeing layoffs. But when employees think the answer is to ruin what Yale is in the first place, well...
Here's a fun exercise: walk around campus after 5pm on a weekday, or on a weekend. Look at who is in their office. It's mostly faculty. Our salaries are not what some posters here think, and if you divide that by the number of hours most of us work, you'll find many of us have a lower hourly wage than the admin assistants who work with us. That's what tenure is about: it gives people like us a reason to commit our lives to an institution like Yale.
