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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 3, 2002)
Women of color struggle with ‘ideal’ hairstyling ■ iviany DiacK women face dilemmas when trying to make their hair fit into the standard By Caron Alarab Oregon Daily Emerald In a hair care world where “straight, shiny and easy to man age” is the ideal, women with nat urally coarse hair struggle with is sues ranging from damaging products to limits on what activi ties or pastimes can be enjoyed con sidering a hairstyle. “It’s not socially acceptable to have black hair,” said Black Women of Achievement member Sharitha McKenzie, “Like there’s a certain way you’re supposed to look.” McKenzie, a freshman student of color, said one focus of recent BWA efforts has been the battle with the image of “ideal” hair and how it af fects the black woman’s pride. Members had planned on hosting a BWA Hair Care Day for youth and other community members of color at 6 p.m. Friday in the Multicultur al Center, she said. However, the event conflicted with the Oregon State University Juneteenth Celebration, hosted by the Eugene-Corvallis chapter of black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha. Many members of BWA are also members of AKA. “We wanted to promote mainte nance and self-esteem building for women who struggle with their hair everyday,” she said. “Some people don’t understand how much of an effect it has on the lifestyles of women of color.” McKenzie said black women used to resort to grease as a treat ment, which clogs pores and does n’t allow the hair to grow. Two preservation tactics she said she has used for hairstyles are sleeping on her face and staying out of the rain. “It prevents black women from doing things they want,” she said, “Especially if you don’t have a perm or a relaxer.” McKenzie said the dilemma of hair care for all women is that the very chemicals that straighten, shine and relax the hair from day to day actually severely damage it in the long run. “A lot of people wonder why black women usually have short hair,” she said. “The problem is so simple and so complex at the same time.” Conditions caused by certain styling techniques and products that pull excessively on the hair, such as straightening and perms, result in breakage of the hair shaft and an undamaged scalp, which causes the hair to split and break off at short lengths instead of grow. “Every hairstyle has a conse quence,” she said. E-mail reporter Caron Alarab at caronalarab@dailyemerald.com. Thomas Patterson Emerald Hair is a statement of pride for freshman Sharitha McKenzie, who says it’s one way she affirms her African American heritage. UO CyberSisters program links young women with technology ■Women mentors provide a way for middle school girls to get involved with science and technology through projects By Mikhael Romain for the Emerald University women who have space in their fall schedules and creative energy to spare can till some of their free time by becom ing a mentor to middle school girls looking to learn more about technology. The CyberSisters program cre ates friendships between Universi ty women and middle school girls by pairing them to engage their minds in technology and science. 014223 u • Interested in education, child development, human services, or behavioral sciences? • Want to attend workshops on ADHD, crisis intervention in schools, childhood depression, early literacy, and functional behavior assessment, presented by nationally-recognized speakers? • Want to earn 2 credits (undergraduate or graduate) during “zero week” in June at a cost of only $235? Attend the 2002 Northwest Conference on At-Risk Students, June 17-20 on the UO Campus Earn 2 Credits For more information, check out the NCAS website at http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~ncas, or contact Leigh Ann Beierling in 275 Education (leighann@oregon.uoregon.edu 346-2412) Sponsored by the School Psychology Program and Summer Session 2002 “Culturally and socially, re search shows that girls begin to self-select themselves out of math, science and technology subjects because they feel they are inca pable. We are trying to change that,” said Ann Fuller, director of CyberSisters. The CyberSisters program orig inated in Eugene in 1997 from a OFF Any Yogurt* (*Exccpt small cones and times. Expires 6/17/02) Campus SUBSHOP Mon.-Sat. llam-8pm Sun. ll:30am-8pm 1225 Alder 345-2434 Not valid will) am other discounts or coupons. One coupon per customer. HOMEY HILL FARMS, ODE CLASSIFIEDS... QQ worth looking into! program called “EMPOWER!” designed to mentor girls from low-income families. There are two sessions per year, one in the fall and one in spring. Mentors are selected from both the Uni versity and Oregon State Univer sity, and they can petition for college credit. The mentor and protege initially meet face-to-face to get acquainted and exchange ideas for the project, and are then encouraged to com municate via e-mail twice a week. The pair have 12 weeks to collabo rate and create a final project that they present to an audience of peers, family and teachers. The goal of the project is to combine the protege’s interests with technology. All projects this year were Web sites, though there is no limit on what the project can be. The Web sites the pairs created were diverse. One show cased a student’s poetry and illus trations, another classified and documented a student’s rock col lection, and a third illustrated the Chinese Zodiac. Mackenzie Johnson, a Universi ty geology graduate student and mentor, said she liked being part of a program encouraging girls in science. “I’ve never met an 11-year-old girl excited about science,” John son said. “It makes me feel good to work with someone interested in what I’m interested in.” Fuller said any student can par ticipate in the program, and one goal of CyberSisters is to get young girls acquainted with technology and computers, regardless of their interest in math and science. “It gets girls to start to think about using computers in their lives in any medium,” Johnson said. Elaina Lindsay, a 12-year-old middle-school student and Cy berSisters protege, said her fa vorite part of the program was “meeting new people and hang ing out.” "It gets girls to start to think about using computers in their lives in any medium. ” Mackenzie Johnson geology graduate student Heather Wright, a University * graduate student and Lindsay’s mentor, said CyberSisters was a learning experience for her as well. Lindsay “had so many ques tions about geology. It was amaz ing how much she knew,” said Wright. “She just soaked up every thing I said.” Fuller said CyberSisters’ mis sion is to encourage young girls and increase the number of women role models in technologi cal and science fields. “It was a fun way of learning,” Lindsay said. The deadline to apply to be a mentor for the fall session is Oct. 1, For more information, visit cyber sisters.org. Mikhael Romain is a freelance reporter for the Emerald. Oregon Daily Emerald P.O. Box 3159. Eugene OR 97403 The Oregon Daily Emerald is published daily Monday through Friday during the school year and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co. Inc., at the University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon.The Emerald operates independently of the University with offices in Suite 300 of the Erb Memorial Union. The Emerald is private property. The unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable by law. NEWSROOM — (S41U46-SS1I Editor in chief: Jessica Blanchard Managing editor: Jeremy Lang Student Activities: Kara Cogswell, editor. Caron Alarab, Danielle Gillespie, Robin Weber, reporters. Community: Darren Freeman, editor. Brook Reinhard, Brad Schmidt, reporters Higher Education: Serena Markstrom, editor. LaBree Shide, reporter. Commentary: Julie Lauderbaugh, editor. Jacquelyn Lewis, assistant editor. Jeff Oliver, Pat Payne, Aaron Rorick, Jacob TenPas .columnists. Features/Pulse: John Liebhardt, editor. Lisa Toth, Features reporter. 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