‘Ice Bucket’ gives ALS group boost

Sun, Aug 24, 2014

The Ice Bucket Challenge that recently spread from the US to Taiwan has raised large sums of money for local amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients within a short period of time, with many attributing the campaign’s success to the power of viral marketing.

Between last Sunday and Thursday, the Taiwan Motor Neuron Disease Association received a total of NT$13 million (US$433,091) in donations, it said.

That is about 43 percent of the about NT$30 million that the association typically receives in donations over an entire year, association head Liu Yen-chu said.

Liu said the association will use the money to provide better long-term care for people with ALS — also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease — and improve the financial conditions of the patients’ families.

The Ice Bucket Challenge went viral on social media in the middle of the year, and from July 29 to Sunday last week, the US-based ALS Association received US$53.3 million in donations, it has said.

Many Taiwanese public figures have taken on the task, which involves pouring ice water over the head or donating money — or both — and challenged more to participate.

Taiwan Foundation for Rare Disorders deputy chief executive Yang Yung-Shiang said the challenge has raised public awareness of rare disorders in the nation and has been a big encouragement for people working in that sector.

Local academic institutions lack funding to study rare diseases, said Liu Ho-chien , CEO of the Spinal Cord Injury Foundation and former secretary-general of the Taiwan Spinocerebellar Ataxia Association.

There are 201 diseases classified as rare in the nation, 70 percent of which are not treatable, Yang said.

While the National Health Insurance Administration covers some of these patients’ medical needs, other costs, such as for care and assistance, are still a huge burden for the patients’ families, he added.

Liu and Yang urged the public to continue donating to and helping raise awareness of patients with rare disorders, and not allow the Ice Bucket Challenge to be just another Internet fad.
Structure of the Lead：

Who - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients
When - Not given
What - Ice Bucket Challenge
Why - Raise large sums of money for local ALS patients
Where - From the US to Taiwan
How - With many attributing the campaign’s success to the power of viral marketing

Keywords：
viral 病毒
donations 捐贈
executive 執行

week 3 - University of California, Santa Barbara, Elliot Rodger

Taiwanese among six killed in California

Tue, May 27, 2014 - Page 3

US authorities have confirmed that at least one of the victims in a killing spree last week in California was a Taiwanese student, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Anna Kao (高安) said yesterday.

Representatives from the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Exchange Office (TECRO) branch in Los Angeles has “established direct contact with local authorities” and the University of California at Santa Barbara to offer its assistance, Kao added.

On Friday night, Elliot Rodger, 22, allegedly stabbed to death his two roommates — Hong Cheng-yuan (洪晟元), also known as James, 20, and George Chen, 19 — and a visitor, Wang Weihan, 20, from Fremont, California, in their apartment near the university campus.

Rodger then drove to the Alpha Phi sorority house on campus and shot three women on the lawn.

Katherine Cooper, 22, and Veronika Weiss, 19 — both students at the university — were killed. The third women, as yet unidentified, is being treated for multiple gunshot wounds.

Rodger drove on to a local deli, went inside and shot and killed Christopher Ross Michaels-Martinez, 20.

He injured 13 more either with gunshots or a car that he used as a battering ram against bicyclists and skateboarders.

The killing spree claimed seven lives, including Rodger’s.

The Santa Barbara County Sherriff’s Office said Rodger took his own life after the rampage.

US media reports said Rodger had uploaded multiple YouTube videos, including one, which has since been removed, titled Day of Retribution, promising to have “his revenge against humanity” — particularly the women whom he claims rejected him.

Hong, who identified himself on Facebook as having grown up in Taipei, had graduated from Lynbrook High School in San Jose, California, the TECRO office in Los Angeles said.

The office is still seeking confirmation with the university whether Chen was also Taiwanese.

Structure of the Lead：

Who-A Taiwanese student

When-Not given

What- A Taiwanese student in a killing spree

Where-California 

Why-Not given 

How-Kill people with a gun and a knife at random

Keywords：

killing spree 殺人魔
allegedly 據稱

stab 刺傷
deli 熟食店
rampage 狂暴行為