Students drawn by quiz show

Over 100 students went to Quiz-Bang, hosted by Spruce college House. What infectious disease is most closely associated with armadillos? If you said "leprosy," then you would have had a chance to eat a free lunch at one of Philadelphia's swankiest restaurants. More than 100 students had a chance to answer that very question and a host of others Friday night at Quiz-Bang, a quiz-show-like contest held in the Quadrangle's McClelland Hall. Grouped in teams of up to four people, the contestants fought through four rounds of trivia questions in hopes of winning the grand prize, a gift certificate for lunch at the Center City restaurant Le Bec-Fin. Two additional gift certificates, both good for lunch at the nearby White Dog Cafe, went to the second-place team and the group judged to have the best name. The Pink Torpedoes won the contest by earning 34 points out of a possible 50. College sophomore Akiva Fox, one of the team's three members, joked about his level of excitement following the victory. "I'm overjoyed," he said. "It's something I've anticipated for all of my young life." But while there may have been a twinge of sarcasm in Fox's reaction, he and his two teammates were certainly serious about enjoying a very expensive lunch downtown. "I've always wanted to go to Le Bec-Fin," said teammate Katie Hoffmann, a College sophomore. She attributed part of the team's success to Fox's past experience on the game show Jeopardy! Fox also appeared on the hit TV quiz show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? last month, although he did not make it into the "hot seat." A single, tie-breaking question decided which team would receive second place. The eventual winners, Oil Can Boyd and the Starland Gang, came the closest to guessing how many bones are in the human body. The judges, comprised of resident and graduate associates in the Quad, then awarded the prize for the best team name to a group called "One Time, at Band Camp?" Spruce College House Program Assistant Emily Pollack and 34th Street magazine staff writer Paul Manion moderated the contest, asking questions from a wide spectrum of topics, including sports, politics and pop culture. In honor of February's designation as Black History Month, an entire round was devoted to African-American history and trivia. Quiz-Bang began last semester as part of Penn P.M., a program designed by the University to provide diverse activities for students on weekend nights. The contest was sponsored by Spruce College House. "One day, the RAs and GAs were just brainstorming for Penn P.M. and we thought of this," said Pollack, who is also an RA in the house. She brought the proposal to Spruce's student-run house council last fall and Quiz-Bang was born soon after that. Wharton sophomore Ralph Wetmore, president of the house council, said he was pleased with Friday night's turnout. "We had over 100 people show up for the last one," he said, "and we hoped to pack the house for this one. I guess we did." The popularity of Quiz-Bang did not go unnoticed by Christine Brisson, the dean of the college house and one of the event's organizers. "This was a success and lots of fun," she said. "I'm really happy that people came out tonight."