Now on to you, Keith.
Author: Harold Pollack
Harold Pollack is Helen Ross Professor of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. He has served on three expert committees of the National Academies of Science. His recent research appears in such journals as Addiction, Journal of the American Medical Association, and American Journal of Public Health. He writes regularly on HIV prevention, crime and drug policy, health reform, and disability policy for American Prospect, tnr.com, and other news outlets. His essay, "Lessons from an Emergency Room Nightmare" was selected for the collection The Best American Medical Writing, 2009. He recently participated, with zero critical acclaim, in the University of Chicago's annual Latke-Hamentaschen debate. View all posts by Harold Pollack
The Ice Bucket Challenge naturally has its fair-and-balanced Wikipage. "Criticism also targeted the waste of water …… a middle-class wet-T-shirt contest for armchair clicktivists." You can also just send them some money, as Uncle Milton would advise.
"…targeted the waste of water…"
Ohmigosh! What a waste!
Hmmm…suppose the average dousing comprises 3 gallons. That's over 20 pounds, more than most folks would lift over their head, but then there are some who rig a device (see Bill Gates), so 3 gallons would be a fair estimate of an upper bound on the average. Now suppose a quarter million people per day do the Challenge. That's pretty high, but who knows? OK, a quarter million per day X 3 gallons per challenge = 3/4 million gallons per day.
That's the amount of water spilling over Niagara Falls in one second, on average.
"Fair and balanced" strikes again.
I was quite taken with the "wet T-shirt" jibe, but the RBC is the wrong demographic.