Call it a crosstown showdown, but with cotton swabs instead of footballs and cheek cells instead of the Victory Bell.
Students at USC and UCLA will compete next week to see which campus can register the most people for the National Marrow Donor Program, a registry that connects patients with illnesses to those willing to donate life-saving bone marrow. Results will be posted at bonemarrowchallenge.com.
But organizers hope the rivalry between the two universities will prove to be more than just a numbers game. The real goal is to find a match for Robert Corrales, a Santa Clarita sheriff's deputy who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in April.
