DORMS COLLECTS CTGS FOR CANCER REASEARCH

[Anonymous]

Dorms to collect ink cartridges to aid in cancer research
Empty
ink cartridges usually mean little more than a trip to the office
supply store. Starting next week, the cartridges will be sought after
in residence halls across the Syracuse University campus.Each
dormitory’s front desk will have a box in which students can recycle
their used printer cartridges. By recycling empty ink cartridges,
students are helping cancer research and the environment.The program
will be accessible in all dorms, and a plan is being derived to bring
it to South Campus, as well as offices and departments throughout the
university.

The program is already available in Sky Halls on South Campus.
Helene
Kahn, a sophomore policy studies major, has worked with the Student
Association and the Office of Residence Life to implement “Cartridges
for a Cure” throughout campus.The program encourages recycling and
raises money to promote both environmental causes and research to cure
cancer among children.Helene’s brother, Eli Kahn, a 16-year-old cancer
survivor, started “Cartridges for a Cure” because he wanted to give
back to the hospital that helped save his life – Johns Hopkins Hospital
in Baltimore, Md.At two years old, Kahn was diagnosed with acute
lymphocytic leukemia, which is cancer of the blood and bone marrow. He
spent every other weekend for six months in CMSC 8, a medical unit of
the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, and an additional two years as an
outpatient undergoing chemotherapy.

Since he was six years-old, his cancer has been in remission.
“I
wanted to find a way to give back to Johns Hopkins,” said Eli Kahn, who
is now a student at the Gilman School, an all boys day school in
Maryland.At the age of 12, Kahn founded “Cartridges for a Cure.”He said
the idea came to him while searching for a community service project
for his Bar Mitzvah. He set a goal for himself and achieved it, raising
$1,800 for pediatric cancer research at Johns Hopkins’ Division of
Pediatric Oncology. To date, Kahn has raised more than $84,000. And
$35,000 was the result of his personal efforts.”Cartridges for a Cure”
uses a free and simple method to make a difference, Helene Kahn said.A
recycled ink cartridge is worth anywhere from $1 to $5 per cartridge.
Each toner cartridge – similar to those found in offices and computer
labs – is worth up to $20.”I think it’s really creative; it’s so easy
to do,” said Michaela Boykin, a sophomore psychology major. “Why throw
them away when you can give them to a good cause?”Boykin, as well as
other students, said they believe that bringing the program to the
dorms is a great start but that it should be accessible to people
living on South and off campus.Melissa Ong, a senior public relations
and international relations major, said she hopes the program will grow
to include the entire university, specifically the computer labs and
clusters.”The university should make an announcement to make students
aware of how they can help out,” said Katie Greene, a junior public
relations major.Eli Kahn has been getting his share of attention for
his work since his program began.Last April, he won the Volvo for Life
Award in the environmental section and donated the $50,000 award to his
charity. The Daily Record, of Baltimore County, Md., listed Kahn as one
of Maryland’s “Innovators of the Year,” an acknowledgment given to
successful business leaders and community organizers.The exposure from
this honor led to a $5,000 check for his organization after he was a
finalist in the “Born Heroes” contest hosted by Lands’ End, a clothing
retailer.In addition to helping in cancer research, “Cartridges for a
Cure” helps alleviate the 85 million pounds of waste generated by ink
jet cartridges, according to a short documentary featuring Kahn on
DarynKagan.com, an inspirational Web site.”Ink cartridges can take
hundreds of years to degrade. With my project, I have kept over 2,000
cartridges out of landfills,” Kahn said in the documentary.When ink
cartridges are disposed improperly, it can result in the release of
carcinogens, according to the documentary. Exposure to carcinogens,
which are harmful substances, can lead to cancer. One of the causes of
these substances is external exposure to the body such as radiation,
chemicals and other infectious agents.William R. Brody, the president
of Johns Hopkins University, announced last week that “Cartridges for a
Cure” would be a campus wide initiative at his university.Matthew
Smith, a human resources employee at Johns Hopkins, said the program
has not been implemented yet, though the plan is for all the dorms at
JHU to be supplied with a green box in which students can recycle their
empty ink cartridges.Throughout the rest of the campus, custodial
services will collect empty ink cartridges and send them to
Empties4Cash, the recycling company with which Eli Kahn is registered.

[Author]

November 14, 2007 at 10:48 AM