Students compete in on-line 'Jeopardy!'

Your heart is pounding. Your palms are dripping sweat. Your hand seizes the mouse, and you frantically move the cursor up and down the computer screen. You are 15 seconds away from the Sony PlayStation that you always wanted, and all that you can do is stare at your computer and repeat to yourself, "In 1852, this oldest American intercollegiate sporting event was held between Harvard and Yale, who competed in this sport." Had you known that the statement referred to rowing, you might have been on the road to fortune. College Jeopardy! Online, developed by Sony Online Entertainment, has brought the popular television game show Jeopardy! to college dorms for no charge for over a year. Word of the online game is spreading among students at Penn. The University's cumulative average of 4,918 points as of Wednesday at 5 p.m. ranks relatively high among the Ivy League schools, compared to leading scorer Princeton University's average of 5,205 and Dartmouth College's low average of 964. College junior Michelle Holme, who interned at Sony Online Entertainment in New York City this summer, said, "[Penn] definitely should not be last. We could boost our rankings.'' Holme herself has tried to boost the University's average, as she frequently turns to College Jeopardy! Online for "a quick, bite-size study break.'' Four students at the University are ranked among the top 10 scorers in the eastern region. Among them, College senior Joe Mira has a personal average of 37,066 points for the first three weeks of the tournament. His rank qualifies him for the semi-finals, in which the top 250 players nationwide will compete. "I'm a big trivia fan. I have watched Jeopardy! every night since the age of 10," Mira said. "My roommate often tells me that I have more useless knowledge than anyone else he knows.'' Caren Piela, manager and publicist for Sony Online Entertainment, explained, "We introduced the tournament for College Jeopardy! Online after seeing many college students go online to play games like Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune.'' Jeopardy! Online first appeared in March 1997. The college version was created in the fall of 1997. This fall marks its third semester. The tournament is 17 weeks long and is composed of a 10-week qualification period -- which runs from September 14 to November 23 -- a two-week eligibility verification period, a one-week semi-finals elimination round period and a four-week final eligibility verification period, in addition to the finals. The grand prize winner receives a Sony entertainment package in addition to a $1,000 donation to the scholarship fund of his or her school. Winners also get a chance to qualify as a contestant in the television program's College Jeopardy! tournament. The online game is similar to the television version, according to Piela. The main difference is that the online game gives contenders four answers from which to choose, whereas the television version provides no choices. Among the many new categories appearing this fall at http://www.station.sony.com: "Arcane Archaeology,'' "Coeducation 101,'' "Hardcore College Hoops'' and "Nutty Professors.''

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