Trivial pursuits

More than 900 students lined the halls of Fetzer Gym on Tuesday for a chance to take a test on their first day back to class.

But for this test, grades were not at stake.

Instead, students were competing for a potential spot in the 2005 Jeopardy! College Championship.

The Jeopardy! Brain Bus visited Chapel Hill on Tuesday, the fourth of six North Carolina stops, on a quest to find contestants for the show’s college tournament.

Up to 1,000 students had the chance to take a 10-question pretest to qualify for a second round.

Many students said that although making it on the show would be a long shot, they owed it to themselves to try.

“Being on the show has been a dream of mine since I was a dorky little kid,” said Justin Tabor, a junior music major. “I liked my chances better when the line ended at me, but I’m still excited to try out.”

Representatives from both ABC and Jeopardy! said they shared the students’ excitement about the tryouts.

This was an excellent opportunity for Chapel Hill students to shine, said Rebecca Erbstein, executive director in charge of promotion for the game show.

“We want as many kids to pass as possible,” she said. “That way we can get the best representative from UNC as possible.”

In addition to the testing, everyone had the chance to play a just-for-fun version of the show hosted by members of the Jeopardy! Clue Crew.

When all the fun and games were over, 150 students scored high enough to advance to the next round, which then narrowed the field to 18.

Freshman music major Sarah Dempsey remained skeptical throughout the day, even after joining the group of 18.

“I guess it’s less of a long shot now,” she said. “I was really just doing this for fun, but it’s working out well.”

The 18 finalists participated in a mock Jeopardy! game to help evaluate other aspects of performing on the game show.

Patrick Peterson, a UNC senior, said he was confident in his chances in the final round.

“All along it felt like a pipe dream, but it was a lot of fun and I ended up performing quite well,” he said.

He credits some of his success to his high school quiz bowl days.

Producers will handpick the best performers to enter the tournament within the next two weeks.

The show will be taped Oct. 1 and Oct. 2 at the RBC Center in Raleigh.

Erbstein said UNC students should not be bitter that N.C. State will serve as host to the event.

“We actually worked really hard with the administration to get the show (at UNC),” she said, “But it came down to logistics.”

No student representative from UNC is guaranteed a final spot, but all 900 participants were offered tickets to the taping of the tournament.

The championship will air on ABC 11 from Nov. 7 to Nov. 18.

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.