EDA Ice Bucket Challenge!

In case you have not heard, the Ice Bucket Challenge is a social media program aiming to increase the awareness of ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis AKA Lou Gehrig’s Disease). One of our neighbors recently passed away as a result of ALS so this challenge is dedicated to Barbara Letts. After hearing about the challenge my daughter Ciara eagerly volunteered to help, a little too eagerly if you ask me. For whatever reason she REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to dump a bucket of ice water on me so here it is:

http://www.semiwiki.com/forum/files/IMG_0593.MOV

Now I get to challenge other people to do the same. For the greater good of ALS and the EDA industry I challenge:

• Brian Derrick (Mentor Graphics)
• Craig Cochran (Cadence)
• Kevin Kranen +1 (Synopsys)
• Mike Gianfagna (eSilicon)

You gentlemen have until Saturday midnight to get creative and douse yourself with a bucket of ice water and send me the video to post on SemiWiki. For those who do not accept the challenge you can make a donation to the ALS charity of your choice or pass the challenge to a coworker. For every video we publish SemiWiki will make a donation to the ALS Association.

Also Read: The EDA Ice Bucket Challenge Just Got Real!

As of yesterday the ALS Association has received in excess of $20 million in donations which is more than ten times the amount at the same period last year. More than 450k new donors were also added so yes, this is more than just water play. It’s all about branding and building awareness, absolutely.

Bill Gates getting iced was the first video I saw and there are many more worth viewing. Search #IceBucketChallenge on YouTube or Twitter and have some fun!

About ALS
ALS was first found in 1869 by French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot, but it wasn’t until 1939 that Lou Gehrig brought national and international attention to the disease. Ending the career of one of the most beloved baseball players of all time, the disease is still most closely associated with his name. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. 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.

Most commonly, ALS strikes people between the ages of 40 and 70, and as many as 30,000 Americans have the disease at any given time. ALS has cut short the lives of other such notable and courageous individuals as Hall of Fame pitcher Jim “Catfish” Hunter, Senator Jacob Javits, actors Michael Zaslow and David Niven, creator of Sesame Street Jon Stone, television producer Scott Brazil, boxing champion Ezzard Charles, NBA Hall of Fame basketball player George Yardley, pro football player Glenn Montgomery, golfer Jeff Julian, golf caddie Bruce Edwards, British soccer player Jimmy Johnstone, musician Lead Belly (Huddie Ledbetter), photographer Eddie Adams, entertainer Dennis Day, jazz musician Charles Mingus, former vice president of the United States Henry A. Wallace and U.S. Army General Maxwell Taylor.