If it weren’t for the compassion of a complete stranger, Jon Brent never would have lived long enough to experience the simple things in life so many of us take for granted.

“I got to go to high school and be on the wrestling team,” says Brent, a third-year economics major who received a life-saving bone marrow transplant almost 12 years ago. “I got to throw around a football. I got to write all these really difficult economics exams and learn how to take all the bad in life along with the good.”

Diagnosed with leukemia at the age of three, Brent went through three years of chemotherapy only to suffer a relapse with just a week left to go in his treatment protocol. On November 13, 1998 – his father’s  40th birthday – he received a bone marrow transplant. The donor was a young woman who lived in Waterloo.

“She was just a young girl at the time and she’s a wife and mother now,” he said. “We had a party on the 10th anniversary of the transplant and she came with her family. We’ve gotten together a few times, but we talked a lot more around the time of the transplant. We still keep in touch on Facebook.”

Knowing full well the critical value of having a wide variety of potential donors to choose from, Brent is encouraging as many people as possible to take part in the OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network’s Get Swabbed! event being held on campus tomorrow. Registrants provide a tissue sample by simply wiping the inside of their mouths with a cotton swab. The information is stored in a database which is used to find potential donors of bone marrow for cancer patients.

“It has to be a perfect match,” said Brent, who added that Canadian Blood Services, the association which oversees the registry, is in desperate need of male donors between the ages of 17 and 35 from diverse ethnic backgrounds.

If called upon, those people in the registry have the option of proceeding with donating their bone marrow. However Kyle Reid, a Windsor man who has gone through the process can’t see why anyone would opt out.

“People are dying all the time because we just don’t have enough,” said Reid, who several years ago donated plasma, from which doctors were able to take stem cells. Those stem cells are injected in the patient, which helps generate healthy new blood in their bone marrow.

Reid was warned he might experience headaches or flu-like symptoms, but said the whole process was simple – and extremely gratifying.

“I sat in a chair for three hours and I gave them 375 million stem cells,” he said. “I walked out of there feeling like a million bucks.”

Representatives of the Katlyn Bedard Bone Marrow Association will join student volunteers at three locations for tomorrow’s Get Swabbed! event: the CAW Student Centre Commons, the Toldo Health Education Centre, and the Human Kinetics Building, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Three members of the School of Music faculty—flutist Jaimie Wagner, clarinetist Trevor Pittman and pianist David Palmer—will join in recital this Sunday.

Composer Chris Ledroit’s A step without feet, a new work for clarinet, flute and electronics, is the centrepiece of the program, which also features some lively trios and two large solo works for clarinet and flute.

The show begins at 2:30 p.m. November 4 at Mackenzie Hall, 3277 Sandwich Street. Admission is $15, with a student rate of $5. Order tickets by phone at 519-253-3000, ext. 4212, or purchase online at www.uwindsor.ca/music. Find more details on the school’s Web site.

Phil Graniero is looking for a few mo’ men to join him in his fight against prostate cancer.

A professor in Earth and Environmental Sciences, Dr. Graniero has participated for the last couple of years in Movember. An international effort which calls on men around the planet to grow a moustache throughout the month of November, Movember raise funds for research into a cure for prostate cancer, as well as awareness for men’s mental health issues.

Last year he teamed up with kinesiology professor Dave Andrews to create a team called The Faculty of Mo and this year he’s looking to widen the circle. He’s quick to point out that men needn’t be faculty in order to join.

“The Faculty of Mo transcends all university boundaries, with members coming from many faculties and non-academic units,” he said. “They just need a good sense of humour and be willing to look ridiculous if they can’t grow a very good moustache. Obviously, the more the merrier.”

Last year, more than 854,000 people around the world participated in Movember, raising more than $125 million.

If you'd like to join Graniero's team, contact him at graniero@uwindsor.ca.

The Lancer women’s and men’s teams are first and ninth, respectively, in the first Canadian Interuniversity Sport basketball rankings of the 2012/13 season.

In women’s hoops, Windsor opens the coaches’ poll at No. 1 for the second time in three years, seven months after claiming a second straight Bronze Baby Trophy thanks to a 69-53 defeat of UBC in the national final.

The Lancers have been impressive in pre-season action with six victories in seven contests, all against CIS opponents. After winning their first five games this fall, the reigning champions split a two-game set against the Regina Cougars in Saskatchewan’s capital last weekend, taking the opener 69-57 and dropping a 74-63 decision in the rematch.

The Lancer men are ranked ninth in the country. The Carleton Ravens, last year’s champs, top the rankings.

Men’s and women’s basketball will open conference play at home against Carleton and Ottawa on November 9 and 10.

Three members of the University’s staff garnered more benefit than they expected this month when they used the payroll deduction program to pay for some campus purchases: they each received a $10 gift card from the UwinCARD office in a random draw of its employee customers.

The payroll deduction program allows faculty and staff to use their UwinCARD to charge food or bookstore purchases and have the cost deducted from their next paycheque. In an effort to encourage its use, the office has started monthly prize draws.

Paul Grzeszczak, a consultant at the IT Servcies HelpDesk; Kim Moore, director of international admissions; and Darrel Laurendeau, manager of educational technologies in the Centre for Teaching and Learning, were the inaugural winners, collecting $10 in UwinCASH to spend at campus service outlets.

Laurendeau said he appreciated the gesture, but didn’t need convincing to use the payroll deduction program.

“It’s fast and convenient, and I don’t need to carry any cash around with me when I’m on campus,” he said.

Sign up for the payroll deduction program—and maybe become one of next month’s winners—in the UwinCARD office, room B104, CAW Student Centre.

— by Matthew Kirby

Have you got your costume ready for the annual Faculty and Staff Hallowe’en Social? The annual tradition takes place today—Wednesday, October 31—from noon to 1:15 p.m. in Vanier Hall’s Winclare A.

All University of Windsor staff and faculty are invited to the event, which promises prizes for best individual and group costumes in addition to door prizes and a free pizza luncheon, sponsored by the president’s office.

Family fun: Residence Life staff joined the Windsor Inter Residence Council and student volunteers in presenting the Boo at the U program for the children of faculty and staff, Tuesday evening in Vanier Hall.

Stephanie Tree, director of events for the Windsor Inter-Residence Council, photographs a couple of patrons as they enter Boo at the U: witch Naiya Templer-Teran and Queen Victoria Marta Obersat-Johnson.

Emma Georgieva paints a pumpkin.

Savannah Cloutier accepts a sheet of scary stickers from Jaydee Tarpeh, a resident assistant in Laurier Hall.

Chef Jackie Sanger, an RA from Alumni Hall, proffers a cupcake like those decorated by happy haunters.

A skeletal Evan Graziano mummifies his twin brother Logan.

Wonder Woman Angela Udovic assists some youngsters with a rubber ducky derby.

With displays and literature on everything from nutrition to sexual health, the Faculty and Staff Wellness Fair in the CAW Student Centre on Tuesday was an educational affair—but the learning wasn’t just on the client side.

Fourth-year nursing student Lisa Lee, one of the event’s organizers, said she learned a lot, too.

“Working on this project has helped me gain skills I will need in my career: communication, problem-solving, time management, teamwork,” said Lee, who is serving a community placement with Human Resources. “It was great to see everything come together today.”

Her classmate, Kelly Riccardi, learned the level of carbon monoxide in her lungs is a healthy four parts per million. A varsity athlete on the Lancer women’s soccer team, she was disappointed it wasn’t lower, but the tester assured her that this is in the good range for a non-smoker.

And Lionel Walsh, associate dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, learned that he has type A- blood.

“I just never knew my blood type,” he said after completing the test with Canadian Blood Services. “They gave me a pin to remind me.”

Marcela Ciampa, manager of employee engagement and development in Human Resources, said the event is intended to promote healthy lifestyles among the University’s employees.

“It’s all about helping our staff and faculty maintain good health,” she said. “We try to take a whole-person approach to wellness.”

Lionel Walsh shows off a pin emblazoned with his blood type, A-, which he received at Tuesday’s Faculty and Staff Wellness Fair.

The University has declared an Ajax induction melting furnace and Foseco mobile degassing unit for sale by bid as Disposal File 884. Please click here for details.