Smoking shisha, or flavored tobacco, has become a mainstream form of recreation in the United States in recent years. This trend can especially be observed on college campuses. However, research shows smoking a hookah is no safer, if not worse, than smoking cigarettes.A hookah is used to smoke the flavored tobacco. Shisha is lit at the top of the Hookah with a coal. The smoke is brought through a large pipe down into the vase-like base, filled with water or juice. The water filters the smoke and sends the new-cooled smoke through a hose to the smoker’s mouth. Because the smoke is cooled by the water, the smoker can inhale much more than if the smoke was not filtered.According to a study from the World Health Organization, smoking a Hookah for a normal session of about one hour is equivalent to smoking 100 cigarettes. That is the same as smoking five packs of cigarettes in one hour.Many students are not aware of the serious health effects caused by smoking Hookah, or they do not smoke it enough to be concerned with the effects.”I have no idea [what the effects are]. I guess it would depend on how much you smoke,” Christina Wisniewski, a freshman psychology major said.Instead, many students are focused on the social aspect of hookah, providing a relaxed environment to gather and make new friends. The under-21 crowd also finds smoking Hookah an enjoyable alternative to illegally drinking.”I can’t drink [legally] for another three months, so it’s something to do,” said junior behavioral studies major James Pritchard.It is also a normal way of life for those raised in other parts of the world. In Middle Eastern culture, smoking Hookah is a regular part of custom, tradition and social behavior. Smoking together represents friendship and intimacy.The hookah is believed to have originated in India or Persia, and has traveled across the globe to make it onto U.S. college campuses, bringing changes along the way.  According to Ramy Andrawes, who works at the Sphinx Egyptian Hookah Bar, smokers in the Middle East used to smoke flavorless molasses tobacco. However, now flavors have been combined into the tobacco to give the shisha a fruity aroma and appealing flavor. Bars have at least 10 to 15 of these flavors on hand, and smokers can buy the tobacco to take home. The Sphinx, passes Middle Eastern culture to the back door of Pittsburgh. Located in both Oakland and South Side, The Sphinx plays host to any and every Hookah need of its customers. Since 2004, when the locations were obtained, the bars have been bringing the appeal of flavored tobacco into the limelight, making it a hot spot for college students.The change in the way the tobacco is presented seems to be the main appeal. Because flavors were added into the tobacco, hookah smoking has become more mainstream than it ever has before.  According to a study done in eight North Carolina colleges and universities, 40.3 percent of students had smoked tobacco from a hookah at least once, compared with 46.6 percent of students who had smoked cigarettes at least once. Those numbers are very close in comparison, making hookah almost as popular as smoking cigarettes.”It’s not as harsh as a cigarette, and the smoke is much thicker based on the amount of tobacco and the fact that it goes through the filtration process. That’s why you can inhale so much of it,” said Karin Baker, head server at The Sphinx.What students are unaware of, however, is that the fruity aromas of the flavors do not change the consequences of smoking them.”Well, there’s no such thing as a good way to smoke,” Baker said.A common myth of smoking Hookah is that it “filters out” all the bad parts that cigarettes keep in. However, the only thing the filtration does to the tobacco is cool it down, making it more bearable to smoke and much less addictive.”You can’t smoke a hookah one night — and the next day be addicted to smoking one. It’s not the same sensation as a cigarette,” Baker said. Even though smoking hookah is not as addictive as smoking cigarettes, the consequences of smoking still remain wide-spread and well-known.  Smoking anything can lead to many types of cancer, lung disease and heart disease. Baker advises students to make wise choices.”I’m not saying hookah is a safe way to smoke, but at the same time cigarettes and alcohol are both legal and can kill you,” Baker said. “But you always have the choice. If you don’t want to do it, then you don’t have to. No one is going to sit there and [say] you have to smoke it, and I would hope you’d have the willpower to know your limits.”