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Tonsorial revelry on the Hanover Plain

Getting your head shaved is often a sign of rebellion, and sometimes even an indication of downright antisocial tendencies. A head-shaving that took place at DMS in May, however, was a selfless, community-minded act.

Ted Yuo, left, "bares" up after getting shorn by Roy Wade, right.

A satellite of the Upper Valley's free clinic, the Good Neighbor Health Clinic, was due to open soon in the underserved Mascoma region. Under the auspices of a Schweitzer Fellowship, second-year medical student Amy Noack had located a site for the new clinic, scrounged up equipment, and talked doctors into volunteering their time. What she hadn't been able to wangle was a source of funding for medications and other disposable supplies.

Enter Theodore Yuo, a first-year student. He and some of his classmates were brainstorming ways to raise the needed money, and the idea of a raffle came up. But what to raffle? Someone proposed chances on a head-shaving and, "as I have a reputation among the class for being the most 'buttoneddown,'" says Yuo, "we thought it would be a hoot to see me a bit outside my comfort zone.

"We were pleasantly surprised by the results," he adds. The group raised almost $300 by selling $2 chances to shave Yuo's head "any way you want," according to an e-mail promoting the raffle. "Mullets, mohawks, Friar Tuck style . . . the possibilities are endless," said the appeal. Yuo promised to wear whatever outrageous "do" he ended up with for at least 24 hours.

His classmate Roy Wade (who, "ironically, encouraged me to try this out," says Yuo) got to wield the shears. A crowd of about 40 people gathered to watch the fun, as Wade left his classmate semi-shorn. A day later, Yuo got rid of the locks that remained and reported that he was "discovering the joys of easier hair care, now that I've shaved it all off. We still need to raise more funds to make sure this project will continue," he added, "but we consider this to be a very strong start." A.S.


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