Virginia Tech Alum to Compete on Survivor
by Michael Trelease
September 5, 2006

Over 30,000 applications were received for this year’s season of Survivor, and CBS has finally revealed the 20 participants who will outwit, outplay and outlast each other for the million dollar prize.  One of the competitors just happens to be a Christiansburg native, who auditioned at the Survivor casting call in Kent Square in Blacksburg this past January.

Anh -Tuan "Cao Boi" Bui, a 42-year-old nail salon manager, is also a Virginia Tech alumnus.  Bui, who commonly goes by the name “Cow Boy,” moved to the United States as a Vietnam refugee at the age of eleven.  Since living in America, he has been a photographer, used car salesman, fisherman and farm hand.

“The biggest lessons I've learned in my personal life are perseverance and tolerance. And I think that is one of the keys to world peace, to get along with each other, by persevering and tolerating each other. There'll be hard times, but perseverance will carry you through,” said Bui in a CBS interview.

According to CBS, this season of Survivor will begin with a controversial twist.  The 20 participants will be divided among racial lines, with tribes of Caucasians, African-Americans, Asians, and Hispanics.

“This is definitely a social experiment that has never been done before,” said host Jeff Probst.

The new season of Survivor will be taking place in the Cook Islands, a desolate location in the South Pacific.  The thirteenth installment of the hit reality series is scheduled to premiere Thursday, Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. on CBS.

For more information on Survivor: Cook Islands, please visit http://ww.cbs.com/survivor.