Bags of hair did not go unnoticed in the Technical Arts Building as the Associated Student Organization along with the Cosmetology Department hosted hair donations  Monday and Tuesday. 

It was only 10:30 a.m. and more 30 people got hair cuts.

One student felt good about donating her hair to help someone else.

“I feel good about cutting off my hair.  I donated 2 inches towards the oil spill,” Stephanie Sesma, 21, cosmetology student, said.

The hair donations served two different causes. The person getting hair cut can either donate eight inches of their hair to cancer patients for Pantene Beautiful Lengths or they can donate two inches of their hair to help absorb the oil in the ocean for Matter of Trust.

“We know that some guys don’t have eight inches of hair so we gave people a choice of two inches so guys could get involved too,” Jasmine Hormati, Region 7 Representative of ASO said.

ASO wanted to get all groups involved; faculty members, friends and families.

This event was open to the public as well and donators did not have to be an EC student in order to donate their hair.

“It feels different cutting off eight inches of my hair, but I’ve wanted to cut my hair for a while now.  I’ve waited for this event and it is a great idea,” Lisa Brown, 23, English major said.

The hair that is donated to Pantene Beautiful Lengths will be made into wigs for cancer patients and the hair donated to Matter of Trust will be made into hair mats that will float in the ocean and help absorb oil for oil spills.

All the hair was collected and separated into bags for each cause.  Every cut was done by the ECC Cosmetology Department.  Also the person who received a hair cut did not have to worry about money. Everything was free.

The individual receiving a hair cut was given a free cut, a new hairstyle and received a voucher for a free manicure any time that will also be done by the Cosmetology Department.

The idea of hair donations came from a former ASO member who was very “green and environmental friendly” and had planned this event last semester but now ASO are following through with the idea this semester.

Jasmine Hormati and ASO board of trustees Johanna Zamora were both in charge of the event and were pleased with the outcome.

“I’m excited because it was an easy event you get to sit down and be pampered and still give back to the community. It feels really good to have been planning since fall semester and now seeing it actually happen,” Hormati said. 

 “This is a really good cause.  It was an event that not only brought our campus together but our community as well,” Johanna Zamora, said.

Looking over past events and new ideas from its recent Advocacy Conference for Community College Student Leaders, students can look forward to more events by ASO this semester along with the fall.

ASO members smiled in the conference room as they discussed what they learned from the conference and how they plan to apply those ideas to the school.

Some of these ideas include: help for students who need to pay off their student loans, not cutting Pell Grants, limiting the amount of books bought, so students can sell back their books. These are just a few ideas they gained from the conference and will fight on the behalf of the students.

Additionally since many students are familiar with the latest technology and Internet,  ASO has considered using Facebook and other social media to reach out to the students.

“We learned a lot of things that can be very useful to EC and we are going to apply what we learned,” Nicole Reinertsen, Public Relations Officer, said.

Besides the new ideas gained from the conference, ASO wants to have more fundraising. Selling Pinkberry proved to be a very successful event last semester, so they plan to bring it back at end of April leading into beginning of May.

Meanwhile the “A Toast to El Camino” event garnered 60 students with over 90 tickets sold, Rebekka Asher, senator of natural sciences and chair of fundraising, said.

“I thought this event was successful and great.  Sixty students is a big turnout for a school event, but I would love if more students attended,” Asher said.

ASO will also be participating in Hands Across California which is an event to raise money so more students can attend and get a good education.

Also with their busy schedules they have to remain focus on the general elections coming up.  ASO members will be campaigning right when spring break is over.  The voting will begin at the beginning of May. It will be an open election for students to vote as well.