WALL STREET JOURNAL Media publication is not completely at fault for lack of diversity
SPOKEN WORD The culture of this oral art creates a platform for creativity and expression
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TENNIS Rutgers faces tall tasks in Penn State, Ohio State over the weekend
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U. startup earns spot at major tech conference Chloe Dopico associate news editor
Haircuts and face shaving is on the brink of a revolutionary development if a few Rutgers students and their startup company have a say in it. The Rutgers start-up company, Shape Me Up, was selected to present at Collision Conference in New Orleans in May. The conference is “America’s fastest growing tech conference,” according to their site. Notable attendees include CEOs and co-founders from companies such as Facebook, Wells Fargo and Bitmoji. Shape Me Up was created by School of Environmental and Biological Sciences senior Ajay Puri, School of Arts and Sciences sophomore Waleed Khan and School of Arts and Sciences senior Shereen Bellamy. “So basically Shape Me Up is a virtual grooming tool that allows people to do their own shape-ups. A shape-up is basically to clean themselves up before an interview or a party or a date night, things like that, just to look as presentable as possible,” Puri said. The app uses the same facial recognition as apps like Snapchat to
apply a filter to an individual’s face to use guidelines to achieve the desired style, he said. The idea for Shape Me Up came from Puri, who said he thought of the idea because he used to cut hair by himself. When he was 9 years old, Puri said his father would give him bowl cuts, which inspired him to take the scissors into his own hands. When he came to Rutgers, Puri would cut hair for additional money, but eventually, he did not have the time to fit everyone into his schedule. Because of this, he was inspired to “put the barber’s eye into an app.” With the idea in mind, Puri attended the Rutgers Research in Science and Engineering (RiSE) startup weekend conference in the fall, where he pitched his idea to the attendees. There, he met Khan and Bellamy and they teamed up to continue with the project after startup weekend. Puri said Bellamy applied to the conference without knowing just how big it was. Last year, there were 86,000 applicants for the Collision Conference, and only 3,000 were invited. “They get only the best startups because we’re participating in such a big conference, and we’re
Shape Me Up, a virtual grooming tool, allows users to clean up their haircuts before major job interviews or dates through facial recognition technology and advanced coding. The app was created by three Rutgers students — Ajay Puri, Waleed Khan and Shereen Bellamy. Courtesy of Jack Cook presenting to big people. All these CEOs … it’s top level people that are coming to this conference, only the best of the best and it’s amazing how we were selected. A small Rutgers startup, that just started a couple of months ago in August …
and now we’re competing against the best in the world,” Puri said. The future of Shape Me Up will hopefully involve integration into smart mirrors, where the app will be utilized in barbershops and hair salons to show clients what their
hairstyle will look like on them before it is actually cut, Puri said. With the app implementation into salons, Puri said they hope to introduce a variable pricing model See startup on Page 5
Eagleton Institute prepares students to run for office Stephen Weiss associate news editor
The Eagleton Institute of Politics hosted “RU Running” on Tuesday night to help students pursue elected positions in government. The event featured networking opportunities and a panel of guest speakers. JEFFREY GOMEZ / PHOTO EDITOR
The Eagleton Institute of Politics’ Youth Political Participation Program (YPPP) and the League of Women Voters of New Jersey’s Young People’s Network collaborated yesterday to hold their second annual “RU Running?” event. The event aimed to connect students with young adults who hold elected public office, raise awareness on ways to access the political party system and offer opportunities for students to apply what they learn. A panel of guest speakers was also featured at the event. Elizabeth Matto, director of Eagleton’s YPPP, said young people play a particularly important role in politics through voting, campaigning, supporting candidates and volunteering, but running for and serving in office is another key way in which young adults can participate in the political process. “I don’t think (running for office) is something that (young people) typically think of as a way of participating in politics, and often have no clue how to go about it, so what we hope to do is just offer the nuts and
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bolts of how to go about running for office,” Matto said. Events like “RU Running?” work to demystify the process of running for political office and simplify what can often seem daunting to students, she said. “You need to know the ins-andouts of how to approach the system, how to get into the system, how to raise money, some fundraising techniques, how to develop a message and deliver that message,” Matto said. “So we try to make it less complicated and more realistic for students.” Brendan Keating, YPPP’s program coordinator, said that this event is unique because many organizations that train people to run for office are affiliated with political parties and are concerned with getting people to run as soon as possible, despite the fact that they may not yet be properly prepared. “It’s important to have events like this where young people can talk to other folks who have done this before, who have been successful, and sometimes haven’t See office on Page 5