IST student takes the sting out of scheduling blood donations

Signing up to give blood for the Red Cross has become the least painful part of the donation process, thanks to a new online scheduling system developed by Penn State information sciences and technology (IST) major George Kroner. Kroner's system, launched last fall, replaced one that required would-be donors to link to the e-mail address of the blood drive sponsor. Then they would wait for confirmation of appointments -- or notification that time slots were filled -- from that sponsor. With the new Web-based system, donors know immediately with a single click if the time they have chosen is available. These improvements certainly are welcome at Penn State, as the University leads the nation in collegiate collections, averaging annually about 7,500 units of blood from about 110 drives. For the full story, visit http://ist.psu.edu/news/CurrentNewsDisplay.cfm?HeadlineID=864