Students Hit the 'Bar' During Finals Week

By Jon Jordan, NEWS 9

EDMOND, Oklahoma -- Many students have been studying hard for finals, and that's why one special bar opened its doors on a college campus just in time for finals week.

On the Oklahoma City University's campus is an oxygen bar designed to help the students prepping for their finals. For many students, the jury is still out on whether the oxygen really does what it promises, but for some students if it means possibly getting a better grade, then it's certainly worth a shot.

"A few seconds ago I was sluggish from studying for a couple hours and now I'm a little more lively," said Nathan Nelson, OCU student who tried out the oxygen bar.

Which is exactly what some believe are the added benefits a person gets from increased oxygen. Normally a person breathes in 21 percent oxygen, but oxygen bars increase that intake to 95 percent, which some say reduces stress, relaxes the body, and more importantly for students, increases alertness, energy, and concentration.

Dave Johnson and his wife Desiree run the company Oxygen Zone and stand behind the claims.

"I wouldn't do it for long periods of time, probably 20 to 30 minutes a day, but as far as anything else I haven't seen anything negative," Johnson said.

But not everyone agrees that oxygen bars work. Some critics say increasing the amount of oxygen into your lungs does nothing for the person and may actually be detrimental, but there has been no good supporting evidence that increased oxygen doesn't work.

Oxygen bars like the one at OCU are not FDA approved.