Junior Nick Yozamp receives the Jeopardy! College Championship trophy from host Alex Trebek. Yozamp won $100,000 in the final match, which aired Friday, Feb. 12, 2010. (Courtesy of "Jeopardy!" Productions, Inc.)

Washington University students and faculty alike have been captivated by Wash. U. student Nick Yozamp’s appearances on the popular televised game show “Jeopardy!” So when the final game was shown in the DUC Commons, everyone held their breath, rooting for the Wash. U.’s knight in school-spirited sweatshirt armor.

Yozamp pulled through, winning the $100,000 grand prize and some positive attention for the University. Ryan Stoffers, a sophomore at University of California, Los Angeles, finished second in the competition, winning $50,000. Surya Sabhapathy, a senior at University of Michigan, won $26,600 for finishing third.

“I was surprised that so many people showed up for the viewing, and with each correct response people were cheering and everything,” Yozamp said of the DUC viewing, immediately after winning. He was showered in confetti and hoisted upon student’s shoulders, as a brief chant of “Nick, Nick, Nick” filled the air.

“It was really electric all throughout the DUC,” junior Alex Christensen said. “There were a lot of people here, and we were cheering for every answer that he got right.”

Though Yozamp got the Final “Jeopardy!” question wrong, he planned his wager so that he won anyway.

Nick Yozamp is hoised into the air following his Jeopardy! victory on Feb. 12. (Matt Lanter | Student Life)

Both Stoffers and Sabhapathy correctly answered the Final “Jeopardy!” question: “These two men first meet in 1 Samuel 16 when one becomes aware of the musical talent of the other.” The correct response was “Who are Saul and David?” Yozamp responded “Who are Ramses and David?” but retained more than $10,000, which was added to his $20,000 total from Thursday’s episode.

Yozamp was in the audience at the DUC, unbeknownst to many students.

“I didn’t realize he was sitting here until the final question,” sophomore Bernell Nevil said. “He was right there. He knew if he won or not. It was definitely exciting. It will help people know we’re in St. Louis, and not Seattle or D.C.”

College “Jeopardy!” differs from normal “Jeopardy!” not only in the contestants’ ages, but in the attitude they bring with them to the game.

“Often in our regular games a player sees their score and imagines what bills could be paid with the money,” Maggie Speak, the show’s contestant producer, wrote in an e-mail to Student Life. “Although I’m sure a lot of our students could use the money for college loans, etc., they seem to really understand that this is a game and they tend to play it more for fun than cash.”

Yozamp plans to spend part of his winnings on his study abroad program in France this summer. The rest will help him pay for medical school.

Still, for Yozamp there is more to playing than money.

“The best part about “Jeopardy!” is not the money nor is it the recognition,” Yozamp wrote in an e-mail to Student Life. “The best part is the game itself. Playing the game in the studio is exponentially more fun than playing “Jeopardy!” at home. The most difficult aspect of the experience is not having been able to tell anyone how I did on the show.”

The campus circulator shuttle pulls up to the stop in front of Mallinckrodt Center. The campus circulator schedule was recently changed, now going in 20-minute cycles instead of 16-minute cycles. (Kivanç Dundar | Student Life)

The Washington University campus circulator began following a revised timetable this week, after shuttle drivers and students raised concerns about the reliability of its schedule. The circulator bus, which previously ran every 16 minutes, will now run every 20 minutes, according to Stephanie Hunter, transportation operations supervisor in Parking and Transportation Services.

The new schedule, which went into effect Monday, allows drivers additional time to complete the route. Recent construction on the South 40 and Highway 40 has led to increased traffic congestion and made it harder for drivers to adhere to the previous timetable.

The shuttle drivers initially raised their concerns to Huntleigh Shuttleport, the company that provides the campus circulator, which then notified Hunter. Two weeks after Hunter was contacted by Huntleigh, she heard similar comments from junior Greg Schweizer, outgoing chair of the SU Campus Services Committee (C-Serve). Members of the committee had noted concerns about the reliability of the circulator.

“[The committee] decided that the priorities should be reliability over speed, so we suggested [to Hunter] that if it means making it a 20-minute interval instead of 16, it’s better if it’s reliable, even if it’s a little bit more time between stops,” Schweizer said of his committee’s recommendation.

Huntleigh tested the new timetable prior to implementing it, and “the drivers seem very happy with that,” Hunter said.

Freshman Candace Armour, who was not familiar with the old timetable, said, “[The circulator] can be reliable sometimes. I think it runs every 20 minutes.”

Sam Coster, a sophomore familiar with the old timetable, said the circulator used to deviate from the old schedule by three to four minutes, “which can be kind of a pain.”

Schweizer noted the importance of reliability as winter approaches.

“I know that students like to use the campus circulator when it gets snowy outside, and I don’t want to see any student waiting five, 10 minutes for a bus that doesn’t come and being late to class,” he said.

Members of C-Serve will be riding the circulator in the coming weeks to ensure compliance with the new timetable. The timetable has been updated on the Parking and Transportation Services Web site, and Hunter hopes residential advisors will disseminate the information to their residents.

Hunter also conducts periodic ride checks, but she noted that student feedback is the best way to raise concerns. She urged students to call or e-mail Parking and Transportation with complaints, saying, “Huntleigh is really pretty good about responding to our concerns, and I just want to know what’s going on so we can put the best product out there.”

Hunter checked with the Huntleigh supervisor following implementation of the new schedule, and she said that “drivers are liking the schedule and are making all of their time points right on schedule.”

The campus circulator provides service to the South 40, Mallinckrodt Center, the Skinker MetroLink station and the Millbrook Garage, adjacent to the Village. At present, there are no plans to revise the circulator schedule further, according to Hunter.

The Green Line is operated by Metro and will not be affected.

Activities Fair
Brookings Quad, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Come out and learn about the hundreds of student groups on campus. Rain location: Athletic Complex.

First Senate meeting
Simon Hall, Room 113, 9 p.m.
The Student Union Senate will be having its first meeting of the year. On the agenda is legislation to allow members of school councils to serve in the legislative branch, the induction of new senators and the approval of election commissioners. The meeting will begin with a student open forum.

Thursday, Sept. 3

“Women’s Careers in Medicine”: Panel discussion
Kenton King Center, Bernard Becker Medical Library, medical school campus, 4:30 p.m.
Women are now a force to be reckoned with in the medical field, but they still face unique problems that male doctors do not have to think about.

Chamber music concert
Danforth University Center, Formal Lounge, 8 p.m.
Erin Schreiber, 21-year-old concert violinist and the youngest member of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, will play with faculty member Martin Kennedy. If you arrive late, please wait for a break before entering the lounge.

Aug. 27, 2009, 8:32 a.m.
LARCENY, PARK DORM–Summary: Student reported that unknown person(s) had stolen his bicycle from the bike rack located west of Park Dorm.
Disposition: Pending.

Visiting professor to lecture on Jewish music

Israeli musicologist and pianist will lecture at Washington University on Sept. 2 in a presentation titled “Embattled Israeliness, Embedded Jewishness: Jewish Influences on Israeli Music.”

According to an article published in The Record, Assaf Shelleg “will discuss moments in Israeli history in which Jewish music penetrated the newly invented Israeli nationalist and art music.”

Formerly a professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Shelleg is the Efroymson Visiting Israeli Scholar this year. His lecture corresponds to a course that he will teach this fall called “Musica Ebraica: Jewish Identities in Western Music from 1600 to the 21st Century.” The course looks at the music of the Western world from the 17th century to the 21st century through the scope of music that was written for and by Jews.

Free and open to the public, the lecture is sponsored by the Jewish, Islamic and Near Eastern Studies program in Arts & Sciences. For more information, contact Stephen Scordias at 314-935-8567. (David Messenger)

SU approves $15,000 for Team 31

On Sunday night, the seven members of the Student Union Executive Council unanimously voted to give an additional $15,000 to Team 31 for purposes of finding talent for the upcoming fall W.I.L.D. This increases Team 31’s initial allocation to find talent from $55,000 to $70,000. Team 31 has a total budget of $139,030.00.  According to the Student Union Web site, the Executive Council decided to grant Team 31 this additional money since many students felt that more money should have been allotted to Team 31 at the 2009-2010 General Budget meeting last April. There is $15,000 remaining in the Executive Appeals account. (Perry Stein)

National

Flames flare in Los Angeles area

The mountains north of Los Angeles are being ravished by a quickly growing wildfire, which has quadrupled in size since last Friday. Thousands of acres have been burned, and 10,000 homes are in danger of being burned. Already, 35,000 acres of underbrush have burned.

The magnitude of the fire is increasing due to the high temperatures, topping out at more than 100 degrees in parts of Los Angeles, and low humidity. The area has been largely untouched by fire for the last 50 years.

This particular blaze is referred to as the station fire and is one in a group of fires that has been plaguing southern and central California.
Though no casualties have been reported, there have been three burn-related injuries and one case of smoke inhalation. (Chloe Rosenberg)

Robocalls banned by FTC

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced a ban on pre-recorded commercial calls from telemarketers known as robocalls. The ban takes effect on Sept. 1.

Regulators are threatening a fine of $16,000 per message for telemarketing companies that violate the decision.

Under the previous system, robocalls were required to give people an opt-out opportunity should they not want to receive future calls. Public service announcements and other informational calls not intended to sell goods will be exempt from the ban. The new ban is a component of amendments to the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule, which took effect a year ago. Calls not covered by the ban include those from charities, banks, insurers, phone companies, survey calls and certain health care messages such as prescription notifications.

Since the FTC announced its decision, telemarketing companies have begun to phase out automated calls and have reverted to having live people make calls. Though a great variety of robocalls will continue to be permitted, telephone users can continue to register their phone number with the National Do-Not-Call Registry, a government-sponsored national database that collects the phone numbers of people who do not wish to continue receiving telemarketing calls. (David Messenger)

International

Democratic party of Japan wins elections

Japan’s ruling conservative party suffered a drastic defeat on Sunday as voters overwhelmingly elected a leftist opposition group that promises to reinvigorate the Japanese economy and give energy to a country after 54 years of single-party rule.

The opposition Democratic Party of Japan is set to gain 300 out of the 480 seats in the Japanese parliament. This election forced the Liberal Democrats, who had ruled Japan for all but 11 months since 1955, out of power.

Voting closed on Sunday night. Despite weather forecasts predicting the approach of a typhoon, voter turnout was high. The high turnout is indicative of a Japanese electorate interested in turning the tide of Japanese politics.

The Liberal Democrats’ loss opens the way for the Democratic Party of Japan, removing Prime Minister Taro Aso from power and establishing a brand new cabinet, which could happen in the next few weeks.

According to a statement issued by the Democratic Party of Japan, “the ruling party has betrayed the people over the past four years, driving the economy to the edge of a cliff, building up more than 6 trillion yen ($64.1 billion) in public debt, wasting money, ruining our social security net and widening the gap between the rich and poor.”

The Democratic Party also stated that they will make Japan’s diplomacy centered less on the U.S. But Yukio Hatoyama, who heads the party, assures he will not pursue change in Japan’s foreign policy, saying the U.S. and Japan relationship will “continue to be the cornerstone of Japanese diplomatic policy.” (David Messenger)

With tons of AP credits, or even with none, work your schedule to take some courses just for fun. Every semester, take a course that seems interesting or beneficial, even if it doesn’t count toward three different requirements. Try a career-enhancing class like public speaking, or even a muscle-enhancing class like weight training.

One semester, take 12 credits and then take a language pass/fail, if you’ve always been interested in another language. You’ll get more than 15 credits for the semester, have only 4 graded classes, and learn another language!

More importantly than taking these suggestions, however, is finding an arrangement that works best for you. Be adaptable; just because you’ve never dropped a class in high school doesn’t mean that you cannot, will not or should not drop a classes here. Just keep your eyes, ears and course book open for alternatives.

Find a club or two that interests you, and devote time to that. Some people can be in 40 different organizations and manage quite fine, but to explore all that clubs have to offer, and to advance through the leadership ranks, requires commitment. In high school, it was easy to be involved in 40 different activities, since they mostly met during defined hours of the school day. In college, days are defined from when you wake up to when, and if, you go to bed. In between, the time spent in class, doing work, or being involved is all at your discretion. Discern wisely and don’t be afraid to re-prioritize. This may be the first time you’ll get over-involved or in over your head with stuff to do. Realize if that’s happening and adjust your schedule/activities/amount of time spent sleeping accordingly.

Take advantage of the opportunities here. You’ll hear a lot about opportunities in the coming months, and that’s because there is no shortage of them at Wash. U., and not just academically. I won’t explicitly encourage you to cut class to attend an assembly series speech or other interesting event, but take a step back occasionally and evaluate the big picture. A failed quiz, or even a B in a class, will not ruin your future.

Don’t feel the need to do everything first semester. Of course, pursue your passions from the start, but I’m sure you will find that many upperclassmen are not best friends with their best friends from first semester, and a lot are involved in a completely different set of activities than at first. That’s fine, as long as you’re doing what you love.

Aim to achieve what you accomplish. Personally, I came to college to expand my circle of friends and develop a social life. And I tried harder on that front than on the academic front. Now, I’m still graduating on time, and with friends! My goals are accomplished. Now go define, and accomplish yours!

Zoë Unruh, women’s basketball: The junior scored in double figures twice in five games during winter break, including a 12-point performance in a four-point victory at Capital University. She is averaging nine points per game this season as both a starter and reserve.

Karina Stridh, swimming and diving: The freshman submitted a NCAA provisional time in the 100-freestyle against Lindenwood University after she had already qualified for nationals in the same event at the Wheaton Invitational in December.

Alex Beyer, swimming and diving: The junior won two individual events and shared in a relay title in a dual meet against Wabash College Wednesday. He won the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:43.99 and the 200-yard butterfly in 1:57.60. He was also a member of the winning 400-yard medley team.

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