*NEWS*DORMS COLLECTS CTGS FOR CANCER CURE

[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 10:46 AM