"It's already easier for Caucasians to find a match, so why should we target them?" Simonoff asked. "Maybe I have a bias now because Alan if my friend. All I know is Alan doesn't have a match and this is the only way he's going to get one."
Press Coverage
Mr. Kuo said he has been both surprised and pleased by the outpouring of support from Alan's school friends and perfect strangers.
Kuo has received press coverage from NBC News, the San Francisco Examiner, the Chicago Tribune and other media networks across the country.
However, some have been less than receptive to Alan's saga.
Kenneth Ho said that one woman he approached for a bone-marrow drive this summer rebuffed him because she said she didn't believe Alan's life was more valuable than any other life because of his distinguished background and intellectual ability.
"It's true that a person in poverty might not get as much attention as Alan, but nevertheless, people who would otherwise not have a match are now going to be helped inadvertently because of Alan," Simonoff, a lawyer with the U.S. Department of Labor's Boston office, said.
Mr. Kuo also said the bone marrow drive was a worthy effort. "Even if it's not going to help him, it will help other people in the future and we all need this," he said.