Applying Texture to Hair

Hello. I am new to working with Blender and in 3D animationin general, so a couple of months ago, I purchased Blender Foundations: The EssentialGuide to Learning Blender 2.6. But right now, I am having trouble going throughthis book. I am in the surfacing chapter, and I am trying to add material and texture tohair, but every time I try to apply a material or texture to the hair, I see noresults in render. The hair only acts as a transparent, taking in the colorfrom the scalp of the head (The texture of the scalp is black, and I am tryingto get the hair to be brown). The hair that overlaps skin has also taken on askin color. Also, transparency on the materials panel is off. The hair is now amesh, but I cannot control the color the hair. So, how can I do this?

http://cgcookie.com/blender/2010/03/16/creating-hair/
http://bensimonds.com/2011/02/17/hair-in-blender/