“My hands hurt, so I’m going to stop clapping.”
“Yeah, me too. It’s not like they can hear or see us anyway.”
I joined the participants at Drake Stadium for the UCLA Relay for Life on Saturday, a 24-hour charity event to raise support and funds for the fight against cancer.
We circled the track and were supposed to clap as cancer survivors did the first lap around the track to signal the beginning of the event. Apparently, the five minutes of clapping was just too painful.
Too painful, in fact, for people to consider that they have not had to deal with months, if not years, of heartache and fear, not to mention chemotherapy, surgery and radiation treatments.
Many walkers were genuinely concerned about finding a cure for cancer; the apathy of these participants perplexed me. Why would one participate if there wasn’t a real desire to further the cause to find a cure?
“I think there is more of a social aspect involved in events like these, in addition to people’s desire to help,” Megan Reid, a first-year undeclared student and participant, said.
I understand that, with events like Relay for Life and Dance Marathon, to garner support and participation there has to be a level of commercialization. People won’t hop up to the plate for cancer and pediatric AIDS if there isn’t that aspect of “Have fun! (And save a couple of lives while you’re at it!)”
“We tried to overcome that by making an atmosphere that will appeal to college students,” Amanda York, a second-year communication studies student and member of the Relay for Life planning committee, said.
But the respective committees for these events have the cause in mind when they do their planning. Many of the people who choose to participate, however, don’t always have the same level of investment.
They have this one-weekend-only dedication to putting a minimal amount of time into these events. Then they jaunt back to their world where pain doesn’t exist and feel fine about it because they don’t have to face this pain on a day-to-day basis.
UCLA has a long-standing reputation of philanthropy, yet I dare to say that a lot of today’s charity work has its roots in graduate school applications and filling in the service hours boxes for clubs on campus.
“During the slide show there were people who were crying and were obviously affected, and there were other people didn’t even care,” Maggie Martins, a second-year microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics student, said.
As I listened to the speakers at the beginning of the ceremony describing their battle with cancer, like Wade Battley, breast cancer patient and Daytime Emmy Award winner for art direction in “Days of Our Lives,” my throat began to tighten up.
That is, until I saw some girl talking on her phone in the warm sun, legs sprawled out for optimal tanning, probably with no sunscreen. Her lack of concern and coldness was alarming in her lack of sympathy for this woman, who was pouring her heart out, discussing her hopes for the future and her appreciation for all the students standing with her in her efforts.
I wanted to take that cell phone and smash it to smithereens. I wanted to demand that the girl show some respect, if not support and sympathy for this woman who could be her mother, her sister or her.
But the participants I spoke to did not feel the resentment that I did toward this girl. In fact, they took pride in their own efforts, instead of focusing on the nonparticipating participants.
“The people who do care, the amount of heart and passion they have, counteracts and even outweighs the apathy of the people who may or may not be participating today,” Rachel Stauber, a third-year business economics student, said.
This positive attitude made Relay for Life the second-biggest relay in California and allowed these determined students to raise $127,118.60, more than twice as much as last year, according to Daily Bruin reporter Annie Augustine.
The optimism of these people and their ability to focus on the amazing results, instead of the negatives, is what I should be holding on to.
“I regret that there is so much apathy for a cause that is so universal,” York said. “But we are excited about challenging ourselves to mobilize an entire community next year, especially after our success this year.”
I admire the strength and determination of most of the participants. I just wish that people’s desires to volunteer would be matched with a compassionate and committed attitude.
E-mail Bissell at abissell@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.