KARLA

Florescent lights make the white walls of the room glow. There is a depressed feeling in the room as people have their names called for check in. The tiles on the floor and uniforms on the employees match in clean looking Easter colors, in contrast to the group of patients.

Some people look like they have not showered in a week. Others look obese and like they have not slept in two days. About half of the people in the room are college students.

“It's great because it works as a supplemental income,� says UMD sophomore Jeremy Beckman. “Especially when you don't have a job and you need money for groceries.�

ZLB Plasma Services is located in downtown Duluth, making it an easy location for UMD students to get to. Many Students need this money for bills, booze, or food.

Beckman has gone to the plasma services about 20 times. He stopped going for awhile when he had a job. Now that he is trying to find a job again and is running low on money he had to go back, even though he does not like going.

“I don't like the scar on my arm,� he says as he lifts his sleeve. “I applied at probably six or seven [restaurants and stores] in town and none of them called me back for a while. Money was getting tight so I started donating again.�

A group of four male college students sit in the corner of the room. They talk amongst each other about how they come here regularly. They continue to talk about the weekend and what they are going to buy with the money they get from their plasma.

“I'm going to get a bottle tonight and some beer,� said one student to another. “We should have a party this weekend.

The conversation continues with each guy bragging about what they will contribute to the party.

ZLB Plasma Services allows a patient to come twice a week but you have to allow 48 hours in between the times you go. It seems as though every five patients get sent away and told to come back in a day. Some people come before their next scheduled time because they need the money. Some get sent home if there are other problems.

That happened to Beckman one time he was at the Plasma Services.

“I got sent away once because my temperature was 99.7 degrees,� he said. “That is .1 degree off what it can be.�

To high of a temperature is a way you can get sent home, but you do not have any control over that. The employees try to address the patients with are preparing 12 hours before they come in to donate.

“It is very important that the clients eat healthy foods prior to coming to ZLB.� said lab technician Shari Holenberg. “The donating process goes faster if the blood isn't thickened by foods high in cholesterol.�

Overall, patients and employees seem to have a good experience at the Plasma Services.

“The [students] are usually always polite.� said Holenberg. “We get a few groups in here that are all friends. They can get loud but it never gets out of control.�

Beckman believes that the employees are polite in return to the students.

“The employees are friendly and professional,� said Beckman. “They know what they are doing.�