For many people, the subject line of this post may read as confusing. It comes as a major shock to many people that I encounter that any man who has had sex with another man, even once since 1977 is permanently banned from donating blood. Let me clarify. This is not a ban for just gay male donors. The ban includes any man who has ever had sex with another man since 1977. This includes bisexual men, men who have experimented with other men, and even if a man was raped by another man. It's the popular and simple sidestep to call this a ban on gay men from donating blood however, you can see that it is more comprehensive than just that.

The ban in place was implemented by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1985 in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Information about HIV/AIDS, testing procedures, and treatment plans were minimal or non-existent. The information at our disposal today is exceedingly accurate, scientifically informed, and compelling. However, due to the fear surrounding HIV/AIDS, the FDA has decided the continue this policy, which many feel is nothing more than fear-based discrimination. 

Organizations such as the American Medical Association (AMA), the Association of Academic Health Centers (AAHC), the American Red Cross, the American Associate of Blood Banks (AABB), and America's Blood Centers (ABC) have all spoken out in favor of the removal of this lifetime ban for the MSM (men who have had sex with other men) demographic. 

According to the FDA, your current chances of receiving HIV from a blood transfusion are approximately 1 in 2,000,000 (Please keep in mind that thousands of MSM already donate their blood and simply choose not to admit to their sexual activity on the donor questionnaire. Yet, the statistic remains this extreme. Clearly the MSM demographic donating their blood is not a problem with current screening procedures as effective as they are). According to data from the National Atmospheric and Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, you are 320 times more likely to be struck by lightning in your life than you are to contract HIV from a blood transfusion.

It is my hope that the Stony Brook community, comprised of well-learned, free-thinking, logical, and scientifically literate individuals can get behind the movement toward rallying our nation together for the sake of urging the FDA to repeal this lifetime ban.

For many people, the idea of substituting the policy for a 12 month deferral for a man since their last sexual activity with another man is good enough. However, this would mean that a man in a monogamous, loving, committed relationship with another man would have to abstain from any sexual activity with their one partner for an entire year before being allowed to donate. Clearly, this is not a valid solution. The only fair solution would be to create a series of subset demographic targeted questions to allow for monogamous men who are sexually safe to donate their blood. Anyone with healthy blood should be allowed to save lives. They should also be allowed to love their significant others, partners, husbands, boyfriends, etc.

Stony Brook University is where history is made regularly. I think it's time to make a little more...

Make this cause a Stony Brook cause. Tell the Undergraduate Student Government that you support equal rights for healthy individuals who want to save lives. Together, we can make this a reality.

I will stay on top of responding to comments for those who are looking to become more deeply involved in this movement. Otherwise, simply voting for this and urging USG to make this a priority is deeply appreciated. 

Title sums it all up. I've been seeing many many complaints about the on campus food quality, pricing, and portions since my freshman year and it is now my 9th semester here and the complaints just keep on adding up. I have started a page to gather all complaints and supporters of this cause to improve the on campus food. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/500692303338694/500747079999883/?notif_t=group_activity

There is no service for any provider in West Apartments and most time you have to live by your window to send a single text message. Vote so we can show the demand for cell phone service in that area and we can work with the university to implement a cell tower service. 

We've had hip hop artists for like what, the past 3 years now? It'd be nice to at Least try and have a little diversity.

Join this event and voice your concerns over Campus Residences and the amount they charge for certain room damages!!!

https://www.facebook.com/events/150887435099559/?ref=notif&notif_t=plan_admin_added

For clubs, posting half of your information to SB LIFE and half of it to Campus Vine is confusing and annoying. Campus Vine is soon coming out with a Social aspect of their site, similar to what SBLIFE attempts to do, but in a much more comprehensive way. It would be easier if all of a clubs files could be kept in the same website. 

Host a Acoustic Concert inside staller center

There are clubs with 10 members and 5k and some clubs with 50 members and 1k. Can we keep attendance? I know for a FACT that there are way too many small clubs out there that spend money on themselves and really dont do anything to help the community. cough cough nypirg

The title says it all. Improve student life. Use the student's money for what they want, strippers.

The University is currently without a pool with no date of when the repairs are expected to take place

I am a student during summer session 2. I paid my tuition in full, which included a student health fee. Yet the health clinic has been closed on several occasions when I call to make an appointment during their advertised business hours for "orientation". This is unacceptable. If I am sick and need to make an appointment than I should be entitled to their regular business hours because I paid the fee.

Due to the lack of storage on campus, every year international and out-of-state students find it very difficult to store their stuff over the summer and are forced to pay high prices of local storage companies. We need to create more storage space on campus or create a contract with the local storage company to come to stony brook with trucks for students to load their stuff in boxes, get them tagged and are offered a student discounted rate. This will be advantageous to Stony Brook Students and also builds on Stony Brook University's mission to economically fuel the local community, in particular the storage industry.

Additionally this will be great for any clubs who require storage for equipment.

Whose with me?

I would like to suggest "5 & A Dime" as a possible concert artist. I believe he will do a great job at being the first DJ/EDM Producer to play a concert at SBU and will help us to see whether or not EDM concerts would work at SBU. He has performed over 100 times at 50+ colleges in 26 states and 2 countries and has been on tours with Steve Aoki and Kendrick Lamar. Check Out his FB page here for more info: https://www.facebook.com/fiveandadime