Henderson Oracle

Issue date: 11/3/08 Section: Features

Media Credit: Alexandria Moore

Henderson has been "Going Green," but it seems that the students are "Going Hairy."

A phenomenon called "No-Shave November" is sweeping across campus.

The name definitely suits itself: males and females across the U.S., and perhaps the world, do not shave any part of their body for the whole month of November, as a tradition.

Definitely reaching males more than females, no one really knows where it originated from. So, why is it spreading like wildfire? Some people just do not like the everyday upkeep of shaving facial, underarm or leg hair.

"It gets old fast," Matthew Mustain, freshman aviation major, said. "After shaving every day, I guess it makes sense to have some kind of break. I don't know about a whole month, though."

Maybe a month is a long time for some people, but for others it is a much-needed break from the hassles of it all.

"I did it last year because everyone else was doing it," Jacob Wright, freshman aviation major, said.

And peer pressure may be a reason behind a very large portion of the population not shaving, though it affects girls less.

"I don't think girls should do it," Wright said.

No objections were found to this statement. Not one female, who was asked, was found on campus wanting to go along with not shaving any part of her body.

Molly Parsley, sophomore aviation major, thinks men should definitely try it. "I'm not going to do it. That's gross. Men that don't shave their faces, on the other hand, are sexy, and they can have my phone number."

Research shows that it is forming somewhat of a club of manly men among males.

It is most prominent on college campuses, but it is also being done in high schools. Teenagers are showing their "manliness" through how much of a beard they can grow in thirty days. So, clean-shaven, silky-smooth skin or a long lumberjack beard?

"Hey, I know I'm going to look like I've disappeared into the County for four weeks with nothing but a month-long supply of flannel and lice, but that's okay," Jake Christie said on his online blog.

"It's an opportunity to prove your ruggedness and smile proudly through that bushy face-field - and I'd like to invite all of the Free Press readers to join in this tradition."

And if the hair is going to grow, why not do it for a good cause?

No-Shave November has been around for a long time. Now there is a new organization online at www.noshavenovember.org, which takes advantage of this month of no shaving as a pledge drive for needy causes.

However, being as new as it is (just forming last year), no one on campus has heard about it.

Last year, this organization did a pledge drive for testicular cancer awareness. And it went so well it is becoming an annual thing.

This year the drive will be collecting money for saving Darfur from genocide.

Darfur is a portion of Western Sudan that has been at war for over five years, and they have been battling the deliberate extermination of their people almost the whole time.

Everything to get involved with the organization and the pledge drive is located on their website.

"I think it's cool that someone thought of this," Robert Gilbert, junior physical education major said.

"It's a very respectable idea to help worthy causes."

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