After reading a book about illegal organ trade, Mary Wallace made up her mind to register as an organ donor.

"It's just so wasteful not to," said Wallace (sophomore-biology), who registered to become an organ donor. "If you die and there's so many people who could use your organs, you should do your part as a student and help out."

Wallace and other interested students were able to register as organ donors at the Circle of Life walk-through event held yesterday in the HUB-Robeson Center. The event was organized by a group from the class Competitive Public Relations Campaign (Comm 497I) as part of Organ Donor Awareness month.

"Every organ donor has the potential to save eight lives and improve 50," Katie McGraw (senior-public relations and psychology), the group's vice president of client services, said. "Whether it's organs, tissue, or skin, they can pretty much use anything when it comes to transplants."

The event was aimed specifically at students because of the impact they play on possible organ donations, McGraw said.

"We're targeting students because, unfortunately, a lot of students are involved in car accidents every year, which can provide a major source of organs," McGraw said.

People in need of organ transplants were a major point the Circle of Life event was trying to convey. To put the number in perspective, a picture of Beaver Stadium was hung on a wall panel at the event to provide a comparison of the number of fans packed into the stadium and the 94,000 people in need of organ transplants, McGraw said.

"It makes the number feel closer to home," McGraw said.

The event also aimed to debunk myths students may have heard about organ transplants. The most common myth, McGraw said, concerns involvement in car accidents.

"Paramedics won't see that you're an organ donor and then not save your life," McGraw said. "They have to keep you alive and run tests before they can even harvest any organs."

Promoting organ donations wasn't the only purpose of the Circle of Life event, said Camille Davis (senior-public relations), the organizing group's vice president of media relations.

"A lot of what we're doing actually has to do with family decisions," Davis said.

Although becoming an organ donor rests solely with the individual, the donor's families make the final decision concerning the distribution of their loved one's organs, McGraw said.

"If they don't know about your decision ahead of time, they'll make a decision on your behalf," she said. "It's a legal decision they have to make if you are unable to."

Even with "Organ Donor" displayed on driver's licenses, family members still get to make the final call, McGraw said.

The Circle of Life event continues today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the HUB Pre-function room, with an organ donor registration table set up throughout next week on the ground floor of the HUB.

"[Students] don't feel they have to worry about organ donation because they think it's something for older people," McGraw said. "What they don't realize is that they can actually help a lot of people."