Jeopardy! College Championships
By Daily Bruin Staff
Oct. 8, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 MIKE CHIEN Jayce Newton, a fifth-year
American literature and culture UCLA student was a contestant on
"Jeopardy." He didn’t win, but took second place by earning 5,000
points in his first game.
By Suneal Kolluri
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
This was the major event that brought over 10,000 students into
Pauley Pavilion on Saturday and Sunday to cheer, laugh and have a
good time.
What is the “Jeopardy College Championship”?
Alex Trebek had all the answers this weekend as he and the
“Jeopardy” crew visited Pauley as UCLA played host to
the special college edition of the famous game show. The episodes
will air in early November.
The show gave 15 college students from across America a shot at
winning the grand prize of $50,000 and a new Volvo.
“I’m excited,” said Stanford contestant Vinita
Kailasanath. “But I’m a little nervous. I’m just
glad we’re not at Berkeley.”
Upon entering the arena, many may have not even been aware that
the basketball court ever existed. The floor was covered and large
curtain-covered walls rose up to the ceiling to hide the stadium
seats.
A stage consisting of the Royce towers, the electronic game
board and a “Jeopardy” banner was assembled right in
front of half court. Even the women’s locker room was changed
““ converted into luxurious lodgings for Trebek. The
“Jeopardy’s” crew had thoroughly transformed the
gymnasium.
When the show began, Trebek entertained the crowd with a few
stories about his time on the show and during commercial breaks he
took questions from the audience.
At one point, he took the chance to question UCLA’s
dominance in women’s athletics after realizing there were
urinals in the women’s locker room.
“What kind of teams are you guys fielding?” Trebek
exclaimed to an amused crowd.
In the second game on Saturday, UCLA competitor Jayce Newton put
his name on the blue screen and began to give his answers in the
form of a question.
 MIKE CHIEN "Jeopardy" host, Alex Trebek
prepares for the Pauley Pavilion taping. The women’s locker room
was temporarily converted into Trebek’s dressing room.
“I’m more anxious then nervous,” said Newton, a
fifth-year American literature and culture student. “People
ask me if I’m going to study and I’m like, “˜What
do you want me to do, read the encyclopedia?'”
Newton answered many questions, and had the audience’s
full support throughout the game. He elicited loud cheers from the
crowd when he answered a question correctly.
“I’ve got home court advantage.” Newton said
before playing, “That will hopefully help me out.”
Even though he didn’t win the Volvo and the $50,000, Jayce
said he was excited to have the chance to be on the show and meet
Trebek.
“Regis is a tool … I like Alex Trebek. Alex is a
“˜G.’ I don’t know if he knows these questions,
but he can pretend he knows anything he wants,” Newton
said.
Newton got second place with a score of 5,000 points in his
first game. He ended up making it to the second round as a wild
card.
A contestant from USC, second-year film and television student
James Zamora, also made a strong showing. Zamora said he felt that
he could defeat Newton if they went head-to-head.
“That would make it even more special. If I win against
UCLA it would be great,” Zamora said. “But if I lose,
I’d be the laughing stock of USC. I think I can take
him.”
For Newton, the feeling was mutual.
“I don’t even think they’d put me up against
the guy,” Newton said. “Because I’d probably
embarrass him.”
The UCLA and USC contestants never got the chance to go
head-to-head.
Once the game began, nothing was easy for any of the
competitors. And according to the show’s producer/head writer
Gary Johnson, the questions were not dumbed down at all for the
college-age contestants.
“In fact we can do things with college students that we
can’t do with normal contestants.” he said.
“These kids are in chemistry right now, they’re
learning physics. Many of our contestants are out of that stuff for
10 or 15 years.”
A lot of the “Jeopardy” crew had attended UCLA in
the past. None of them, however, openly admitted rooting for the
UCLA contestant.
Cheryl Farrel, an economics alumna from UCLA who is now a member
of the “Jeopardy” clue crew, expressed equal support
for all the contestants.
“I think all the contestants are stars of the show,”
she said. “Everybody has an equal opportunity on the
show.”
