KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 2010 / NEWS
17
CHARITY
Students cut it off to give back for Locks of Love
BY HANNAH JENNISON hjennison@kansan.com
Dani Marvin thinks about how she has the ability to help people with cancer as scissors fight to cut off 12 inches of thick hair.
"It allows them to still feel normal and beautiful while they may feel down most of the time," Marvin, a senior from Shawnee, said.
The first time Marvin donated her hair, she was a sophomore in high school.
"I did it for one of my mom's best friends, Sarah. She died of breast cancer. She was a strong soul and left a lot of people to mourn over her young death."
The second time she donated was during her junior year in college.
"Why be selfish and try and get this cute haircut when you can make someone else's life just a little better."
Marvin said.
Locks of Love is a non-profit organization that creates hairpieces for financially disadvantaged children who are suffering from long-term medical hair loss.
"In our store alone we probably do 10 to 14 students per semester." Kathy Frye, Lawrence Great Clips manager, said.
Frye said she had one client who has donated her hair three or four times.
"When she was in elementary school, one of her friends passed away from cancer," Frye said.
Some people who donate their hair don't have specific reasons for donating. They just want to help out the kids who need hair.
"Little kids get made fun of if they're bald because kids don't understand that kind of thing, especially if the bald child is a girl," Frye said.
Lauren Suter, a senior from Shawnee, said that she donated 12 inches of hair during spring break.
"I had been growing out my hair for a while and decided to cut it all off during the spring. I wanted to cut it off earlier but I knew that the longer the hair, the more it could benefit a child." Suter said.
Although some people get instant gratification after donating their hair to such a good cause, cutting off 10 or more inches of hair can be a stressful situation.
"It was weird donating my hair. One, I lost 12 inches. And two, it was odd to think that another child would be wearing my hair. As good as it made me feel to know I was benefiting a life, it was odd to think about how exactly I was doing so." Suter said.
For more information on Locks of Love, visit www.locksoflove.org.
NATIONAL
Philly challenges ban on gays in Boy Scouts
BY MARYCLAIRE DALE
Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — City lawyers called on local Boy Scout officials to muster "the courage of their convictions" and challenge their national group's ban on gays as a trial over government funding opened Tuesday.
The city of Philadelphia wants to end its $1-a-year lease to the local Boy Scouts chapter unless it rejects a Boy Scouts of America policy banning "avowed" gays. The city says the national rule violates a local law banning discrimination on sexual-orientation and other grounds.
Local scout chapters, including the Cradle of Liberty Council in Philadelphia, have struggled in recent years to satisfy both public and private funders as well as their
national leadership's dictums. The Boy Scout oath calls for members to be "morally straight," which the national group interprets to mean that gays cannot participate.
In 2004, the Philadelphia chapter agreed to ban any "unlawful" discrimination. But the city said the policy didn't go far enough, given that the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000 had said scouts and other private organizations can legally restrict membership.
"The city tried for years to get them to (muster) ... the courage of their convictions," lawyer David Smith, representing the city, told jurors Monday in opening statements. "You can't go on speaking out of both sides of your mouth because we, the government, cannot subsidize that kind of conduct."