Videos of people being doused by a bucket of ice water have saturated social media for the past few weeks.
If one is challenged to pour a bucket of ice water over their head and they do not complete it within 24 hours of receiving the nomination, he or she is supposed to donate $100 to fund Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) research.
If they do complete the challenge, he or she is encouraged to donate $10. No one is monitoring whether the money is donated, but videos of someone being showered in ice water have spread across social networks.
The videos typically include a nominee giving a "thank you" for the nomination, as well as a challenge to a few family members or friends to do the same within 24 hours.
This is all a part of the ALS ice bucket challenge, a movement to raise awareness and money for research of ALS.
According to nurse Kate Carruthers, ALS is often referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease, named after the baseball player who died of the disease in 1941.
Carruthers said ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.
"ALS is degenerative, so it progressively gets worse, similar to Parkinson's disease," Carruthers said. "It affects the spinal cord and brain. When the motor neurons die, the patient loses the ability to initiate and control muscle movement. This eventually leads to paralysis and then death."
Carson Haley, senior in social science education, was nominated by his brother to complete the challenge.
He then challenged his roommates to do the same. He said along with seeing his friends complete the challenge, he has enjoyed watching leaders in the sports world get involved.
"I've seen [Major League Baseball] players challenge each other, which is cool," Haley said. "I saw on the MLB Network that the manager of the Red Sox challenged the manager of the Yankees."
Other Auburn students have gotten involved too. Anna Donze, junior in accounting and Tiger Paw, said the volleyball team nominated the cheerleaders to take an ice bucket for ALS.
Donze was relieved to know the Tiger Paws weren't challenged, but she has enjoyed seeing how much awareness and money has been raised for the research of ALS.
One of the most famous people to take the ice bucket challenge is Apple CEO Tim Cook, an Auburn graduate.
"What should I do?" Cook asked a crowd of Apple employees in a video posted by the company. "I'm going to do both."
The popularity of the challenge has caused some social media users to become curious about the disease.
Some challenge videos include information about ALS and how to donate to the cause.
The videos have helped spread awareness of ALS. Before the challenge started circulating, Haley said he didn't realize that ALS was the same as Lou Gehrig's Disease, the more commonly used name.
"I saw a video of a man with ALS, and his walking and speaking were impaired," Haley said."I had heard of the disease before, but didn't know much about it."
The ice bucket challenge spreads awareness through social media and raise money for researching a cure for Lou Gehrig's disease.
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