the current

4 the currentOctober 2011Artist exhibits at 2 MCC galleriesby Carrie MuellerHave you ever wanted to knowthe inspiration behind a piece of artwork? Artist Talk is a time when youcan do just that. Rita Blitt’s work in ashow entitled Discovering and Sharingat Penn Valley’s Carter Art Center andLongview’s Cultural Arts Center.Blitt is known for her flowing lines,and is showing a ten piece painting setentitled “A Sacred Moment.” Blitt notonly has paintings on display, but isdisplaying sculptures as well. The showwill run until November 5.During the Artist Talk, the artistwill speak about her work and the inspirationbehind the pieces. This is atime when the audience gets to ask theartist questions and find out what shewas thinking as each piece came about.Kari DragooThe CurrentBlitt’s sculpture “My Dear” (right)and painting “Allegro” (above) are ondisplay at Longview’s Cultural ArtsCenter Gallery. Part II of the exhibit isat Penn Valley’s Carter Art Center.Firefightersrespond toinjury at HTby Micah ChrismanStudents walking to class at 10:40a.m. on Sept. 29 witnessed paramedicsand a rescue team rush through theMCC-Longview campus to the HighTechnology building. The Lee’s SummitFire Department responded to acall made from the automotive department,where a student was injured duringa routine lab class.Automotive technology directorStan Abrahamson said that a studentsuffered a significant laceration to thelip.“It happens more often than peoplethink,” Abrahamson said. “We expectcuts and scrapes to happen all of thetime in the automotive department.”Abrahamson said that it is up toeach instructor to decide whether ornot to make the emergency call whensomeone is injured. Abrahamson saidhe would rather have faculty err on theside of caution.The student’s name and conditionwere not released.KC area getting hooked on hookahby Alex GreenleeMention the word “bar,” and mostpeople think of a place to get a drink.Now it can also mean a place to get anexotic smoke.Hookah bars, which offer the MiddleEastern method of smoking tobaccothrough a special water pipe, havebecome more popular in the KansasCity area, where many see it as a moresocial way of lighting up.A hookah is a water pipe that is usedto smoke shisha, a tobacco that is coveredin molasses and flavors that canrange from mixed berry, pineapple, coconutrum, double apple and hundredsof others.Jason Ballou, who owns Jaskki’s TobaccoCafé in Kansas City, said that likemany other trends, hookah started onthe East and West coasts and spread towardthe Midwest.“Basically hookah bars have beenin Kansas City forthe past five to sixyears,” Ballou said.Nationwide, hookahbars have beenaround seven to 10years, he said.The art ofsmoking hookahoriginated inthe Middle East.“Hookahs are literallyeverywherein the Middle East,” said Ballou.Nas Alazzeh, a manager at JerusalemCafé in Kansas City, said he hasbeen seeing plenty of old and new facescoming in to the café’s hookah bar andbecoming regulars.“It’s getting popular and it’s a verysocial thing to do,” Alazzeh said. “Doinghookah is something to do and it’s agreat way to just sit down and talk andhave good conversations.”Wil Piercey, anassociate at OutlawCigar Company,said peoplelike the way hookahsmells comparedto a cigar,cigarette or pipe.“It has thatfruity sweet smellthat is not anoverpowering form of tobacco smoke,”Piercey said.Hookah’s growing popularity hashelped it evolve “from a thing to dointo more of a legitimate sector of thetobacco industry,” Ballou said. But withthat growing popularity has come agrowing concern about hookah’s safety.While research about hookahsmoke is still emerging, evidence showsAlex Greenlee/The Currentcurrent@mcckc.eduthat it poses many dangers, accordingto Richard D. Hurt, an internist anddirector of the Nicotine DependenceCenter at the Mayo Clinic.In a posting on the clinic’s website,Hurt said that tobacco is no less toxicin a hookah pipe, and that water inthe pipe doesn’t filter out the toxic ingredientsin the tobacco smoke. Hurtsaid hookah smokers may actually inhalemore smoke than cigarette smokersdo because of the large volume inhaledduring a typical smoking session,which can last as long as an hour.But while its health effects are beingdebated, it’s certain that hookah smokinghas developed a growing followingin Kansas City.“I don’t like to compare smokingcigarettes to smoking hookah,” Alazzehsaid. “People do it for the flavor anddon’t get addicted to what’s in the tobacco.”