UCOSA Elections With the UCOSA elections less than a week away, The Vista speaks with two more candidates about their platforms and campaigns. Page 5
In preparation for the 2012-2013 season, Vista Sports takes a look at future conferance opponents Central Missouri and Emporia State. Page 7
APRIL 5, 2012 uco360.com twitter.com/uco360
THE VISTA
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA’S student voice since 1903.
THIRD UCO STUDENT STRUCK BY VEHICLE
MIAA
Sushi
UCO’S FAVORITE SUSHI CHEF
By Bryan Trude / Sports Editor A UCO student was struck by a vehicle for the second time in a week at University and Ayers around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 3. A student crossing North University Drive heading east was hit by a vehicle turning off of East Ayers Street, according to Officer James Hamm, public information officer for the Edmond Police Department. The student, whose identity was not released, was treated at the scene for minor injuries. The vehicle remained at the scene and was not cited. This is the second accident involving students hit by vehicles in the area. Thursday, March 29, two UCO students were transported to an area hospital after being struck in a hit-and-run accident by a minivan on Ayers, north of Max Chambers Library.
TURKISH JOURNALIST TO SPEAK AT UCO Turkish journalist Mustafa Akyol will speak on Friday, April 13 at 9 a.m. at the Pegasus Theatre in the Liberal Arts building. It is free and open to all. Akyol’s talk is part of Press Freedom Week at at the University of Central Oklahoma, the week of April 9-13, several weeks ahead of International Press Freedom Day on May 3. It’s an effort to spread the awareness of hardships of journalists to report the news around the world. To learn more about Press Freedom Week and the hardships journalists endure to do their jobs, look for #pressfreedom on Twitter and @pressfreedom on Facebook, or read “The Dilemma,” Walker’s blog for her Press Freedom and Media Ethics classes.
WEATHER TODAY
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Chef Tuang Nang prepares sushi at the Nigh University Center, Wednesday, April 4, 2012. Photo by Garett Fisbeck, The Vista
By Garett Fisbeck / Photo Editor In the early hours of the morning, just after sunrise, the weathered, glistening hands of the laughing Burmese man in the white apron and hat are busy rolling layers of dried seaweed, rice, crab and avocado. He makes dozens of rolls, running his blade through, slicing them in to three-quarter inch bitesized pieces as he goes. “My heart is for the Lord, that is my target. My purpose is serving the Lord,” Chef Tuang Nang said. Chef Tuang Nang and his wife Chantana are the muscle and brains behind the Nigh University Center food court sushi stand. Although they are two people that most UCO students might know of, they are two people that few have had the chance to get
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DID YOU KNOW? Libra is the only zodiac sign represented by an inanimate object.
be easy, Chef Nang relied on his faith as guidance. “How do I get here? I said, ‘you pray,’” Nang said. Nang stayed in political asylum before he could take an exam in Baltimore that would allow him to live in the United States. Once Nang passed his exam, he moved to Miami and was able to move his wife and children to the United States with him. He enrolled in English as Second Language classes at Miami Community College, where he took classes two nights a week for two years. In 2005, Chef Nang and his family moved to Oklahoma, when friend and former UCO sushi chef told him about a job opening. Moving from Miami to Oklahoma proved to be a
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Crime
STUDY FINDS HOOKAH SMOKING MORE HARMFUL THAN CIGARETTE SMOKING By Josh Hutton / Staff Writer
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to know. The Nang’s business is located under the “Chef Yan Can Cook” Chinese food sign; however, though they share the space, they are not affiliated with them. Chef Tuang and his wife started working at UCO six years ago after a friend told them about the opening. “We worked at the Church of God World Mission, a local church,” Chef Tuang Nang said. Chef Tuang Nang first arrived in the United States in October 1998 when he came to hear Rev. Billy Graham speak at a Christian conference. Chef Nang decided that he wanted to stay in the United States to learn the English language and study the Bible. “It’s the land of opportunity,” he said. Although going to the United States and leaving his wife and children behind in Thailand would not
A study conducted by the American Journal of Medicine (AJM) in Florida has concluded that patrons leaving hookah bars were exposed to three times the level of carbon monoxide versus cigarette smokers leaving traditional bars. Smoking the sweet tobacco known as shisha from hookah pipes, also known as water pipes, has become a staple of college culture. Users inhale through a mouthpiece connected by a hose to the pipe. The pipe contains a reservoir of water at the base. As a user inhales, smoke pulls from the burning tobacco, bubbles through the water, and comes to the users mouth. The shisha is sweetened with glycerine. Glycerine makes the shisha damp, so charcoal is needed to perpetuate the burning. Users then take in the nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide, heavy metals and tar contained in charcoal. The World Health Organization conducted a study that found more than 20 percent of college students have smoking from a hookah. There are 14 hookah bars in the Oklahoma City metro area. Kush Lounge is the closest to UCO, located at 12124 N Pennsylvania Ave. “I see a lot of kids from UCO at Kush,” Mark McCall, a psychology major and sophomore,
said. “I don’t think people know how bad it is for you. I know I didn’t. I think it’s because the smoke is so light and flavorful.” Researchers at AJM concluded that the increased levels of carbon monoxide for hookah smokers was tied to the extended smoke time and use of charcoal in the smoking process. “Instead of taking 8-12 puffs of a single cigarette a person is inhaling 50-200 puffs in a session. This, in effect, makes it more like chain smoking,” Claudia Hammond, a health analyst for BBC News, wrote in her “Medical Myths” column. “In an hour-long session a person can inhale the equivalent of 100 to 200 times the smoke from a single cigarette, which may come as a surprise to most people.” “I think the mouthpieces and the long tubing of a hookah probably cut down on a great deal of your contact with carcinogens,” McCall said. Many hookah mouthpieces contain cotton filters or a plastic mesh. These alternations make the smoke bubbles smaller. The World Health Organization has not found the mouthpieces to reduce the potential harm. The study is incomplete on the long-term effects of water-pipe smoking. Many researchers believe the use of hookah could lead to nicotine dependence, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
A hookah pipe. Stock photo