TAIF, 28 June 2007 — It’s as if the hippie scene of the 1960s finally came to the southwestern Saudi city of Taif. A Teacher’s College here has said that any students who have long hair or weird haircuts will have their transcripts held until they visit a barber. Some students (probably the ones with long hair and weird haircuts) have complained that this is a violation of their personal rights. Vice Dean Abdullrahman Al-Akhtar told the daily Al-Watan that the administration is not going to back down from its decision. The vice dean accused the students of giving unrealistic excuses such as they are following the Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) teachings in having their hair long or out of fear that cutting their hair will exacerbate their genetically inherited baldness. Whatever the case may be, it’s becoming difficult for the student to do what the 1960s hippie rock band Crosby, Stills & Nash once instructed the youth to do: Grow your hair and “let your freak flag fly.”