You might call this an emotional haircut. But Arielle Ingber shed no tears as 10 inches of her sandy brown hair was whacked off Wednesday.

She will donate the hair to Locks of Love, which uses natural hair to make special wigs for young cancer patients.

"I guess I became concerned after watching my grandfather suffer from cancer," said Arielle, 11, a seventh-grader at Sycamore Junior High School. "I hope my friends will choose to do the same thing."

Arielle said she has been growing the hair about a year and a half. It was cut at Leslie at the Strand salon in Mariemont.

"This is sort of a special birthday present for her," said her father, Rabbi Abie Ingber. "Against a background of a world where young children are often portrayed as selfish and vane, her act refreshes me."

SCPA grad returns

Renee Brown, a 1987 graduate of the School of Creative and Performing Arts has been performing on the stage since the fourth grade. Now a resident of New York, she will return to Cincinnati next week for her first appearance in her hometown.

Brown will perform in Thoroughly Modern Millie at the Aronoff Theater, Tuesday through Nov. 30.

"I am really looking forward to coming home to perform before my friends and family," Brown said.

"SCPA has given me a strong foundation."

She has performed in Cinderella and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.

Brown, 34, and her husband live in New York. She is the daughter of Laura Brown of Mount Airy.

ACADEMIC ALL-STARS

Nichols wins grant

Andy Nichols, a Madeira High School graduate, was awarded the Gustav Kurt Mesmer Academic Scholarship to attend Washington University, St. Louis, Mo.

The son of Diane and Doug Nichols of Madeira, he plans to study civil engineering and play football.

Scholarships awarded

The Hughes Center Parent Teacher Student Organization Scholarship winners for 2003 were:

James David Brooks, Dominique Camille Ellison and Robert Patton of the High School for the Communication Professions; J'Rome A. Holmes II of the Cincinnati Academy of Mathematics and Science; and Desmond Lenoir of the Paideia Program.

Butler an OSU grad

Jennifer Butler has graduated summa cum laude from Ohio State University with a major in computer science engineering and a minor in business.

The Cincinnati Christian Schools graduate is the daughter of Anita and Paul Butler of Colerain Township.

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OUR KIDS

If you ever wonder about the value of voting, just ask Angela Banks, a Mount Healthy High School junior.

She has won first place in the first Kids Voting Oratorical Contest for juniors and seniors in student government, involving several thousand students from 65 school districts in Southwest Ohio.

Angela, 17, prepared a videotape and explained the importance of voting. She competed in the finals, which were aired on WVXU radio's Morning Edition program.

Angela is president of Mount Healthy High School's Student Government. She is the daughter of Chester and Margerine Banks, Springfield Township.

"We may have the makings of a politician," said Chester Banks. "She is an 'A' student and is planning on majoring in psychology. She has been involved in student government and finds it very interesting."