From June 1-3, the De Anza College Muckrakers organized a campus wide “hair drive” to contribute to the clean up effort of the Gulf Coast. Students attended the three-day event to receive free haircuts in exchange for their hair, and to donate bags of hair they had collected on their own.

The Muckrakers are a group of guerilla performers and student activists who highlight current events such as the oil spill and raise awareness on and off the De Anza campus.

Hair stylists, including managing editor of La Voz Weekly, Kelsey Lester-Perry, were recruited by the Muckrakers and volunteered their time to cut hair. “The Muckrakers contacted me because they knew I worked at Supercuts and I brought along some of my co-workers to help out,” she said.

Theresa Jiang, who accompanied Lester-Perry to the hair drive, said that she supported the cause by informing her clients where their hair would be donated and encouraging them to spread the word. “The turnout has been great so far,” Jiang said. “I cut more than 10 people’s hair in one day.”

“We had a lot more people than we expected,” Muckraker Jazmine Lopez said. Students and community members alike lined up in the Main Quad from Monday to Wednesday in order to donate their hair to Matter of Trust, an organization committed to cleaning up the oil spill by collecting hair in nylon booms to absorb the pollutants in the water.

“Using hair to soak up the spill is definitely a better option than what BP is using now,” Lopez said. “Their only alternative is to use an oil-based chemical compound which only causes more damage.”

Matter of Trust is a non-profit organization that works to utilize sustainable items and promote action among individuals by creating man-made and natural surplus.

According to their website, “the mission of Matter of Trust is to link ideas, spark action and materialize sustainable systems. We like to mimic how Mother Nature integrates enduring cycles and provides access to necessities in abundance. We concentrate on man-made surplus, natural surplus and eco-educational programs.”

A major concern among students during the event was whether the hair booms would actually be effective in cleaning up the spill. Reports that the hair would actually sink and create more pollution for the Gulf spread through the media and raised doubts among students.

“These concerns are all valid,” said Muckraker and English major Josh Davis. “But all the hair is biodegradable since it is all organic material.” As of now, Beyond Petroleum will not use any more funding on alternative solutions.

The only exception to this rule is the critical response and material management team, who have employed unconventional techniques, including hair booms to clean up the spill.

Whether all the hair donated by the Muckrakers will be used to clean up the oil spill is not clear, but Davis said, “it’s the cheapest and easiest method we can help with to clean the spill.”

Kelsey Lester-Perry uses her clippers to cut a participant’s hair. (Dorian Silva)

Jazmine Lopez finishes Holden Kaufmann’s haircut during day one of the hair drive event. (Dorian Silva)