Quoted Text

Cancer patient’s co-workers buzz it off to show support
BY LINDSAY GREENE For The Daily Gazette

   After being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in mid-June, E/One worker Bryan Arndt lost his hair while receiving chemotherapy treatment at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Utah.
   To show support, 23 co-workers at E/One in Niskayuna who barely know him volunteered Friday to buzz off their hair as a show of support.
   “We’ve been following what’s going on with him via his blog,” said E/One President Philip Welsh. He said the idea for employees to shave their heads came from a picture of Arndt’s children and neighbors who had crew cuts to support him, which was posted on the blog.
   Arndt is unaware of the wave of support he is receiving in Niskayuna — but he won’t be in the dark for long. The 23 employees with buzz cuts and more than a dozen others participated in what they called a “white out” and wore blue jeans and white shirts to work. Photos taken of them getting their hair cut will be sent to Arndt with a big card with the headline “Bryan’s Team” on it. The card was full of messages and well wishes.
   “We are hoping to overwhelm him and let him know we are all pulling for him,” Welsh said.
   E/One, formally known as Environment One Corporation, is a subsidiary of Precision Castparts Corp., a worldwide manufacturer of complex metal parts and industrial products. E/One’s corporate headquarters are in New York, and they have regional offices and distribution sites.
   Arndt had been with E/One only a few months before being diagnosed with cancer. He works out of his home in Utah as a regional manager.
   Mike Perkins, who works in the dock area for E/One in Niskayuna, has never even met Arndt, but that didn’t stop him from participating.
   “My niece has cancer, and I know what a terrible thing it is to go through,” Perkins said. “So I’m here to support him.”
   Others only met Arndt briefl y when he came east for a meeting.
   “I know any sort of boost we can give him will help with his recovery,” said financial analyst Jim Dwyer.
   The employees at E/One were also doing more than just showing their support: They were raising money to send to the institute where Arndt is receiving treatment. Each employee donated $2 in order to wear jeans Friday, and Robin Kane, the human resources administrator, said many donated much more. Welsh said the $2 jeans fee is a monthly initiative that raises money for different charities and organizations.
   The cheerful crowd of workers gathered in the company’s training room around two hairdressers, Nicole Angelozzi of LaModa Studio on Curry Road and Michael Marsello of Blown Away on Union Street, both of whom were donating their time. Blown Away also donated a basket of hair products to be raffled off to raise money.
   The workers teased and laughed at one another.
   “It’s a serious subject,” Welsh said, “but the participation is fun.”
   By the end of the two hours allotted for haircutting, the plastic taped to the floor to catch falling hair was littered with different shades of hair all in varying lengths.
   The longest hair on the floor belonged to the lone woman who signed up to get her hair cut. Accounts payable administrator Kim Matthews did not plan to get her nearly shoulder-length hair cut when she went to work Friday morning but talked herself into it.
   Though Matthews did not get a full buzz cut, Angelozzi clipped it to less than 1 inch long in what she called a pixie cut. “I didn’t want to shave it,” Matthews said. She was growing her hair long but said she will start all over again.
   “My hair will always grow back,” she said.
   Welsh felt the same way: “My hair hasn’t been short like this since I was 8 years old.” He added that he was worried about getting his head sunburned, saying he’ll have to remember to wear a hat.

PETER R. BARBER/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER
Nicole Angelozzi of Rotterdam gives E/One employee Kim Matthews of Scotia a haircut at the Niskayuna plant on Balltown Road Friday, A group of workers got buzz cuts in support of a colleague in Utah who is undergoing chemotherapy and has lost his hair.