The Death of Lei Yang

Lei Yang is a common Chinese name, and there are dozens of the name living in the US, several of them could be found on popular social networking websites such as Linked-In or Facebook, which caused confusions when the story was first heard about Yang's death.

Thirty-year old Lei Yang, a research scientist at the ConocoPhillips, had been living a double life. On Nov 4, 2012, the same day he jumped out of a speeding 2011 Chevy Traverse on west bound County Road 3900, he posted a well acclaimed advisory offering tips on how to publish high quality papers on the Science Net. Before they heard the bad news, thousands of Chinese students and scholars had studied the article, in which Yang reflected on his success in research and publication, including 8 papers on Science and Nature within 2 years in the area of solid oxide fuel cells alone. As a fresh PhD, it's a remarkable achievement that would warrant a position with a faculty top university or research institute. Yang's personal blogs had been followed by numerous aspiring scientists for career guidance. Yang is truly a shining star in the virtual cyberspace.

Alas, Yang ended his life in such a dramatic way, an incident people would surely talk about in the next few days at lunch break.

At the time, his wife 31 year-old Shuang Xue was holding the wheel. Their 2 year-old son Vincent Yang was sleeping in the back seat. According to his Xue, Yang was giving instructions to Xue who was learning to drive, and the two had an argument. Local police determined the car was operating normally at the time, and no one else was injured.

Lei began his college life in the Department of Materials Science at Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics (BUAA) in 1999. He then earned a Master's degree from the Qinghua University before pursuing a PhD degree at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In past 5 years, Lei's achievements include a gold prize from Materials Research Society, National Scholarship from Chinese government, IUPAC International young chemists award, anACerS award, as well as 5 patents and over 30 high impact papers.

In real life, Yang was known as a person you would otherwise notice, for being unfashionably laid-back. In a group picture taken at an award ceremony, a short Yang was dwarfed by his sharply dressed peers in a five sized up suits.

A friend of Yang recalled Yang had to call in at late night to ask a $25 refund for two tables he bought from a yard sale. Even over the phone, Yang's wife could be heard scolding Yang loudly.

According to an online memorial site, A memorial fund account has been set up for Lei. A check can be sent to: Attn: Lei Yang Memorial Fund, 66 Federal Credit Union, PO Box 1358, Bartlesville, OK 74005.

Rest in Peace, Lei Yang.

Update via ScienceNet:

Family friends Mr. Li and Ms. Li released a statement on Nov 13, 2012 regarding Dr. Yang's death. According to this statement, Dr. Yang did not have a heated dispute with his wife. Because of language barrier, Dr. Yang's wife told police there was a quarrel, and that Dr. Yang jumped out of the car. However, none of those actually happened.

Chicken to Die For

A review on midnight chick wings peppered with reflection on his weakness of unwilling to take risk, the author of 'Chicken to Die For' got a university newspaper into the storm and himself into fear of life.

Kyle West, a student at University of Oklahoma was lured to a midnight chicken joint for 'best wings in the state of Oklahoma'. He patronized the place despite its a gangsters gathering place, and was quite impressed by the tasty wings. At the end, he concluded the spicy deliciousness lived up to its reputation and trip was well worth it. Had he not taken the risk, he wouldn't have had a bite of the one of a kind delicacy.

Because the trailer chicken joint located on an abandoned parking lot is the center of a Black community where murders and drive-by shootings frequent, the food review came under severe criticism for being 'racial provoking'. Although there's no exaggeration or misrepresentation of facts, the article was accused of 'embracing negative stereotypes'. The author was rebuked and the editorial board apologized. The food review was withdrawn. In other words, there are things you should not say in the United States, under the current political atmosphere.

Without further due, here is the original article in its entire length:

CHICKEN TO DIE FOR

Before going there, I thought there'd be one of two ways I would die by eating at Bobo's. One, the chicken itself, a delicious yet deadly combination of spicy, smoked chicken wings that are then deep fried and generously slathered with honey, a concoction that churned like acid in my gut the whole next day. The second way I thought I'd die was a driveby, because being white and naive, I thought I was the obvious target of gangsters and thugs. But the promise of the best fried chicken in the state of Oklahoma overcame my fear of death. Which, if you think about it, is saying a lot. I guess you could say Bobo's makes chicken that is literally to die for.

Bobo's sits in an abandoned parking lot, and is only open 7 p.m. to 4 a.m. Friday and Saturday. I had no idea how bad it would be. It sounds ridiculous, but the image of my body lying dead in a gutter loomed large. This was the reason I enlisted several of my friends come. We left Norman around 2 a.m. to get there around 2:30, the place's peak time where its clientele are the most interesting. Before arriving, I'd imagined my faithful friends and me walking quietly yet purposefully up to the trailer, getting our food and stealing away like phantoms into the night before the inevitable gangs descended upon our soft, suburban underbellies. But thankfully, things didn't turn out that way. It seemed like every gangster and wannabe gangster had been drawn here like iron filings to a magnet. I probably unfairly thought most of the honest people there were gangsters. Not that long ago Bobo's was the site of a drive-by where six people were injured. Looking at its neighborhood, it's not surprising -- Martin Luther King and NE 23rd is arguably the most dangerous part of OKC. Though my house is only five minutes from Bobo's, I had never been that far east on 23rd.

No one wanted to be the first to get out. We were nervous, but we hadn't yet figured out there was no real reason to be. Finally, we hopped out into the dusty lot, the loud beats of rap music reverberating from every dark corner where shady cars were parked. Even the massive floodlights mounted on Bobo's trailer couldn't reach those dark corners. Like a pack of wildebeests on a lion-filled savanna we clustered en masse toward the trailer. Its menu offered three items: "wings n' things," catfish, and shrimp. Everyone ordered wings n' things, and while waiting for our orders to arrive, we each privately pondered what "things" might be. Things turned out to be fries and deep fried dough sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, which, together with the wings, were smothered with Bobo's signature helping of honey.

Once we had our food, we retreated to the safety of the capitol steps, a two minute drive, to eat our wings n' things. Ironically, the capitol probably boasts more corruption than Bobo's parking lot ever could. But I'll spare you the politics. That night, we satisfied ourselves on the spicy, sweet goodness of deep-fried deliciousness, licking our fingers because apparently Bobo doesn't believe in napkins. Napkins are too polite for Bobo.

While uncomfortable, I know Bobo's was a good experience. It made me realize that I rarely take risks. Usually, I don't intentionally put myself in harm's way. It's counter to reason. But it's interesting that our ancestors quite possibly experienced true and physical danger every day. This is an element nearly absent at a public university where our greatest physical fear is probably getting run over by a bike. If I learned one thing from Bobo's, other than their chicken is the best I've had in Oklahoma, it's this: perhaps risk-taking isn't so counterintuitive. While probably not that great a risk, going to Bobo's made me feel more alive. It made me less afraid of being uncomfortable. It makes me discontent to sit, playing video games when I could be doing something more stimulating. Life is short, then we die might morning, as well be doing interesting things while we wait, like risking your life for fried chicken.

Kyle West in a professional writing senior.

BOBO'S CHICKEN

WANT TO TRY THE INFAMOUS EATERY FOR YOURSELF? THE DAILY'S LIFE AND ARTS STAFF GATHERED THE DETAILS. WHERE: 23 St. between Lottie and Martin Luther King WHEN: 7 p.m. to 4 a.m. each Friday and Saturday WHY: Because fried food tastes better at night. WHAT TO EXPECT: Plan on eating some of Oklahoma's best fried food while making memories you might never forget.