This past summer, Saint Xavier University participated in the Ice Bucket Challenge.
As the beginning of the school year was approaching, Jessica José’s nomination made the Office of Public Safety one of the very first departments to complete the challenge, and since then the university has had numerous departments nominated, as well as individual professors and deans.
Erin Laske, Public Safety’s Director of Emergency Management and Preparedness and a recent participant of this challenge, shares, “It was very rewarding and exciting that the Public Safety Department was challenged to participate in such a worthy cause.”
This challenge calls for the nominated person to douse themselves completely with a ‘bucket’ full of ice water and in turn nominate others to perform the exact same challenge. But what is the purpose of it?
The answer is that it raises awareness for “amyotrophic lateral sclerosis” (ALS), or more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord, degenerating motor neurons ( they link the brain to the spinal cord and the spinal cord to muscles throughout the body) until the brain’s ability to control muscle movement is gone.
Early symptoms include weakness and stiffness in the muscles, then progressing to the wasting and paralysis of the muscles in the limbs, trunk, and later also affecting those that control vital functions such as speech, swallowing, and breathing.
It is estimated that ALS is responsible for nearly two deaths per hundred thousand population each year. At the time, there is no cure for this disease.
The challenge causes for the person’s nerves to temporarily freeze as they are dunked with ice water, giving participants a small glimpse into what a ALS sufferer goes through every day.
“I think it’s a good idea for individuals to have some type of experience to know what it’s like to not be able to feel pain and not have any type of stimulation and essentially have their nerves frozen so they’re cut off from external feelings i.e. by having the cold water dumped over their heads,” Director Laske said.
Saint Xavier University has played an essential role in the search for a cure to a terrible illness, and Director Laske coincides by stating, “I think any time departments, students, faculty, and staff come together to show support for any type of cause and raise any type of monetary means, whether it’s minimal means or a large quantity of money to be able to donate to the cause, I always think it’s a great idea.”
To make a donation to the ALS Foundation to increase the chances of a cure being found, go to: http://www.alsa.org/
Gisselle Lopez
News Editor
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