Why give?

“I personally think it’s important to help because there are so many people in the world who don’t live the way we do,” said Alison Lima.

Lima, senior in biology, lives out her remark. She runs and helped create the Student International Medical Aid Club, which gathers donations of medical supplies and sends them with ISU students going abroad.

She is also helping to organize the Tsunami Relief Project at Iowa State, whose proceeds will benefit the Red Cross.

Why give?

“While we are separated by oceans, we all share a common concern,” said Neny Isharyanti.

Isharyanti, graduate student in English, is from Indonesia. Part of her response to December’s tsunami that wiped out portions of cities in countries on all sides of the Indian Ocean is to translate Indonesian news articles into English.

“Because I am so far away from Indonesia, this is the least I can do for my people,” she said.

Why give?

“We have been working for 10 years now; we have a network,” said Kanaga Subramanian.

Subramanian, graduate student in mechanical engineering, is the president of Sankalp, a student group formed to sponsor literacy projects in India. Now, Subramanian said, that focus has expanded to include many other developmental projects in the country.

Sankalp’s history of working with organizations in India will make it easier to provide relief following the earthquake disaster, because its members know what groups will be efficient stewards of aid given to them.

“To reach the people, we’ll have to give it to the right person,” Subramanian said.

Why give? Because it makes a difference. And not just now. Sankalp is planning for “long-term rehabilitation” projects months down the road. Isharyanti said she hopes Iowa State’s academic departments will find ways to use technical expertise to contribute to rebuilding once that phase of recovery begins.

The need is not new, and it’s not going anywhere. Lima and Subramanian both said they expect attention to diminish after coverage dies down and reflex responses to numbing photos and video disappear.

That interest will wane is just a fact. We, as a newspaper, admit that may happen to us in our dogged pursuit for the next big thing. Which is why we hope you’ll listen not to us but to these other-driven students, your peers, when deciding how to respond to the loss of life and destruction in Asia.

Why give?

“Watching other people go through what they’re going through and crying makes me want to cry,” Lima said. “How can I help?

“What can I do?”