Bald is beautiful

By Joycelyn Fish
Campus Life Editor
Every three minutes, some¬where in the world, a child is diagnosed with cancer. And one in five children diagnosed with cancer in Canada and the United States will not survive according to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation.
Alex Connor, a freshman theatre major with an emphasis in design from Rolling Meadows, Ill., hopes to take a step towards diminishing and even eliminating this startling statistic by shaving his head if he reaches his goal of raising $1,000 by March 9.
“I have had longer hair since sixth grade,” Connor told Lumen. “Hair is nothing. It regrows. I wish to show how insignificant something like hair is to life; life: something that most people take for granted.”
Connor is hosting a virtual fundraiser in conjunction with St. Baldrick’s Foundation. According to St. Baldrick’s website, money raised is distributed to laboratory research, clinical trials and finding cures at over 215 children’s hospi¬tals throughout the United States.
In 2012, volunteers who shaved their heads raised more than $30 million, resulting in over $100 mil¬lion for childhood cancer research grants since 2005.
“I don’t really hope to personally gain anything from this,” Connor explained. “This is about helping to advance the understanding of cancer and to help treat individuals who are suffering.”
“These children have lived far too short lives to have to suffer with cancer, and medical research to help prevent and cure cancer does require money,” Connor added.
Individuals interested in helping support Connor can visit www. stbaldricks.org and search “Alex Connor” to find his page. Even if he comes up short, Connor still plans on shaving his head.
“I hope to show that there is beau¬ty in bald, especially to children who lose their hair, that they are still just as beautiful without hair as they were with it,” Connor said.

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Posted by lumenvu on February 27, 2013

http://viterbolumen.wordpress.com/2013/02/27/bald-is-beautiful/