Penn students 'greedy' to get on nationally-televised show

Instead of showing off their tans on College Green on Friday afternoon, about 25 Penn students got to show off their brains as they vied for the chance to qualify as a contestant on a popular TV game show. At 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., auditions for Fox's new game show, Greed, were held at Cavanaugh's. The contestant coordinators of Greed, Fox's answer of ABC's television phenomenon Who Wants to be a Millionaire, stopped at Penn as part of their month-long tour of various universities in order to find contestants for a special college edition of the show, expected to air during the May sweeps period. The goal of the tournament is to play-up the rivalries between certain schools, such as Big Ten, Pac-10 and Ivy League universities. Contestants were given a short written exam to test their ability to answer questions similar to those asked on the show. Students who passed the exam were then briefly interviewed in front of the contestant coordinators and other finalists to show off their personality and poise. Around 15 of the student finalists were then photographed and the results will be taken back to Hollywood, where the contestants will be chosen. "All types of students will be represented," said Casey Slade, one of the show's contestant coordinators. "Fox prides itself on equality, fairness and diversity." Specifically, coordinators said they were looking for intellectual ability, an outgoing personality and the ability to temper nervousness. The turnout for the audition was smaller than the coordinators anticipated. In fact, Penn's showing was the smallest turnout yet of the dozen or so schools the game show has visited. Organizers attributed the low turnout to the fact that a Fox-run newspaper advertisement, intended to notify students of the event, was not sent out. Nonetheless, the students that did show up said they came for good fun, healthy competition and the chance to win a whole lot of money. Few, however, said they thought they had what it took to make it to the final rounds. "I came to audition today just for the hell of it," explained College sophomore Grace Lee, who was later named as one of the few finalists. "My chances are slim to none, but I thought this would be a good activity for a Friday afternoon." Lee and the other contestants had to answer questions in topics ranging from sports to music to art, with some as seemingly bizarre as, "Of the following, list four products that are manufactured by Hostess." The scores are graded on a curve and those students who are at the far end of the curve -- which is higher for college students -- were the ones selected. "I like game shows and thought it was worth giving it a try," said Wharton sophomore Alan Bell, another one of the finalists. "My chances are probably not great, but this is better than writing a paper." The Greed crew has already visited the University of Michigan, Ohio State, Brown, Yale and Harvard universities and will continue on to other universities like Stanford and Columbia. Finalists will be notified on April 10 if selected and will be flown to California on April 13, 14 and 15 for the taping.