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. Alix Ker), Jennifer West, Pulse
reporters.
Sports: Adam Jude, editor. Chris Cabot, Hank
Hager, Peter Hockaday, reporters.
Freelance: Katie Mayer, editor.
Copy: Jessica Richelderfer, Michael J. Kleckner,
copy chiefs. Jessica Davison, Annie Dreger,
David Rhue, Jennifer Sudick, Lauren Tracy,
copyeditors.
Online: Marilyn Rice, editor. Helena Irwandi,
webmaster.
Design: Russell Weller, editor. A. Scott Abts,
Heather Gee-Pape, Nick Olmstead, designers.
Steve Baggs, Peter Utsey, illustrators.
Photo: Thomas Patterson, editor. Adam Amato,
Jonathan House, Adam Jones, photographers.
ADVERTISING — 15411 A46-V712
Becky Merchant, director.
Lisa Wood, sales manager.
Michelle Chan, Jill Hazelbaker, Michael Kirk,
Trevor Kuhn, Lindsay McNamara, Mickey Miles,
Hillary Shultz, Sherry Telford, Chad Verly,
Jeremy Williams, sales representatives. Valisa
Nelson, Van Nguyen, Erin O’Connell, assistants.
CLASSIFIEDS — (5411 S46-4S4A
Trina Shanaman, manager.
Erin Cooney, Katy Hagert, Amy Richman, Laura
Staples, assistants.
BUSINESS — fS4m46-SS12
Judy Riedl, general manager.
Kathy Carbone, business supervisor.
Sarah Goracke, receptionist
John Long, Mike Chen, George Choi, Jeff Neely,
Laura Pfeiffer, distribution.
PRODUCTION — (S41) 346-4W1
Michele Ross, manager.
Tara Sloan, coordinator.
Emily Cooke, Matt Graff, Andy Holland, Heather
Jenkins, Marissa Jones, designers.