Hair drive will help, entertain

By: Emily Abbate

Posted: 11/13/08

It's winter, and although it's chilly outside, there's no reason that girls (and guys) can't look for a new shorter hairstyle, especially if the chop is for a good cause.

The Agents of Improv, Dramatic P.A.W.S., Wilhelm Comedy and Horse Lincoln Improv are sponsoring a Pantene Pro-V haircutting drive today in the Student Union room 304B from 7 to 10 p.m.

"I have been growing out my hair to donate, so I thought when I do that I might as well get as many other people together to donate with me," said Scott Colleran, a 7th-semester biological sciences major and the master of ceremonies for Agents of Improv. "Then I thought it would be a good idea to get people who can't donate a chance to give to the same cause, so I put together the charity show part for that."

There will be a "bunch of performances" during the night, according to Colleran.

"Improv from Horse Lincoln and Agents, some sketch comedy from Wilhelm, some stand-up comedy from myself and a few dramatic readings and 10 minute plays from different members, to name a few performances," he said.

"I think it [the event] is a great idea," said Julie Burdan, a 5th-semester marketing major. "Short hair is in style right now and the hair goes to help make someone else more self-confident and feel beautiful, which in my opinion is a wonderful thing."

And while everyone is welcome to come stop by (admission is free), there are some guidelines for donating hair.

"Donated hair must be a minimum of 8 inches long," according to beautifullengths.com, the Pantene Pro-V Web site for the campaign. The Web site suggests that donors measure hair by pulling it straight back into a pony tail, and measuring the length from just above the elastic band of the ponytail to the ends.

"Wavy/curly hair texture is fine - you may straighten hair to measure," according to the Web site. "Hair should be freshly washed and completely dry, without any styling products. Hair may be colored with vegetable dyes, rinses and semi-permanent dyes. It cannot be bleached, permanently colored or chemically treated. Hair may not be more than 5 percent gray."

These guidelines have reasoning, according to the Web site. It takes six ponytails to make a wig, and hair that is used to make these wigs needs to be in good condition, which is why permanent dyes and grey hairs could be detrimental to this process.

"Most permanently-colored hair, once it is processed and re-colored," according to the Web site, "it is too fragile and breakable under the rigorous processing required during the production of a Pantene Beautiful Lengths wig."

"If people want to donate a ponytail they should contact the agents at agentsofimprov@gmail.com," Colleran said. "There will be a stylist from Anthony's Hair Salon in the Student Union there to cut the ponytails and style people's hair after the donation."

"I would hate for someone to try to donate their hair and then have it rejected because they didn't know one of the requirements," he said. "They are simple things like having

clean, dry, product-free hair at the time of donation."