by Austin Coats, sports editor
For those of you who have watched any ALS ice bucket challenge videos, I want to challenge you with a simple question: What is ALS?
And for those of you who do know what it is: hey, you’re probably smart. For the rest: you’re probably smart also, but let me educate you beyond what the ice bucket challenge videos have. Per the website of the ALS Association:
“Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death. When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. With voluntary muscle action progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed…
“Early symptoms of ALS often include increasing muscle weakness, especially involving the arms and legs, speech, swallowing or breathing.”
Well that’s no splash of cold water. For people with ALS, the question isn’t “How long do I have?”, but instead more along the lines of “To what extent will my body cripple me by the time it kills me?” Not many of these videos have managed to express that sentiment.
Instead, athletes, movie stars, musicians and others of that ilk tell their viewers to visit alsa.org, dump some ice water on their heads, challenge (usually) three other people to do the same, and then turn off the camera so that they can seek comfort in towels and new clothes. What they don’t realize is that:
1) The people watching their video are doing it to watch a celebrity react to being drenched in cold water.
2) They have probably seen five other ice bucket challenge videos that day, so the “go to alsa.org” probably doesn’t move them anymore.
3) Whether it is or not, the video looks like a self-promoting act of charity — assuming the celebrity in question actually donated.
What is important with charity is that we know what’s going on around us and that people are suffering from diseases like ALS, that we donate the money no matter what, and that we do so privately. Sure, these celebrities have done well to donate to the cause, but if people actually knew how awful ALS is, I’m sure that donations would increase.
The ice bucket challenge has certainly raised money for ALS, but that’s not where the problem lies. Part of this whole campaign should be the awareness factor, because awareness goes beyond millions of dollars in donations that may or may not be sincere. The challenge seems more of a popular trend than a awareness campaign, no matter its primary intention.
So, for anyone who’s challenged from here on out: for the sake of ALS research, just do it the right way. Express how brutal ALS is, and don’t tout your donation. This way, we can increase the number of sincere donations — and possibly open up continued donations, as those who actually realize the horrors of ALS are more likely to donate again than those who are merely feel-good donators. In the end, ALS will surely be ended by true awareness, research and a touch of morality.
