Associated Students, Inc. Board members will present legislation claiming that Smart Cuts, located in the University Union, is unable to provide adequate services to ethnically diverse students.

ASI Director of Mathematics and Sciences Luke Wood and Vice President of University Affairs Calvin Davis are addressing the fact that the University Union business “is unable to provide hair services to an Ethnically Diverse population, particularly African-Americans.”

“I currently have two stylists; one is Korean and one is American,” said Mike Zohrab, owner of Smart Cuts. “I?m having a hiring problem right now; it has nothing to do with race,”

Wood believes this is a problem the University should address.

“They can?t do black people?s hair,” Wood said. “They can?t do braids, interlocks, cornrows, dreads or even twists.”

Wood is asking the salon to find someone who is capable of styling African-American hair.

“I have not had any experience at Smart Cuts, but we have received a lot of complaints,” he said.

Davis, who co-authored the legislation, did not return calls to The State Hornet by its Dec. 3 deadline.

According to the Office of Institutional Research, 6 percent of the Sacramento State student body is African-American.

University Union Director Leslie Davis said the proposal took her by surprise. According to Davis, the Union will look into any customer concerns and see what the possibilities could be.

“We?re certainly going to investigate it and will attempt to meet the request. I hope this concern hasn?t been out there for a while,” he said.

ASI President Artemio Pimentel believes that if students are complaining, then the issue is important enough to be addressed.

“They should look into hiring someone with those skills, but I would hope that this Board is able to deal with this issue quickly so we can get on with other things,” Pimentel said.