-* #,p game winners would go on to the two-game final. At 11:30 we went to the studio to play another practice game.. Then followed a nail-biting 45 minutes waiting with my fellow competitors Amy Zucker and Brad Davis for out show to start; the first semifinal. What a psych- out! In the first round Amy got off to a quick start and by the first commercial break she was leading me $1,600 to $900. Brad had -$600. During the chit-chat, I took the opportunity to thank my farily, Tony, my other housemates, and "everyone else." At the end of Jeopardy!, Amy had $3,000, I had $2,700, and Brad had $200. Amy was quick. I tried to beat her to the questions and ended up locking myself out and getting frustrated. Alex said to me before Double Jeopardy!, "It looks like you're buzzing in too soon." "Brilliant observation," I thought to myself. During the rest of the round the buzzer was driving me nuts. After watching the telecast of the show, I counted up $1,500 worth of questions that I would have earned if I had just been more patient. Then I got a break. Amy missed a $1,000 question and I got it. That was a $2,000 swing. I then went to European History for $200 and got it. The $400 question was simple but to my. horror Amy beat me in. She blew it, giving me a golden opportunity. In my glee, I buzzed frantically - but too quickly, because Brad got in d answered the question correctly. I then ran the rest of the category. "And boy, you've come alive there Matthew," said Alex. "You have closed the gap to within $300 of Amy's goal of $9,200." "The category will be..." Alex began. "Please be something obscure in Politics or something that only I would know," I prayed. Alex continued, "...The Bible." The Bible? Not one of my strengths. If it is the New Testament, I'm finished. This time, though, I was not going to regret my bet. I was sure that Amy would bet enough to beat me by $1 if I bet all my money. I figured that if Amy were to bet that way and miss, she would be left with $599. I bet $8,300, which would leave me with $600 if I missed. We returned from the commercial and Alex read the question; "Of the men mentioned in the King James version, he's the first alphabetically." It took me three read-throughs before I understood the question. I started saying names to myself. "Adam, no. Aaron, yes!" I thought for a bit, knowing that I had to get this right. Down it went. I hummed along to the last half of the song and hoped that Amy hadn't thought of Aaron. Brad guessed Abraham, which had not even occurred to me. He missed and ended up with $602. I nodded in approval. He would have beaten both of us if we had all missed. l turn. I was right! Then Amy's answer was shown. She also got Aaron and as I guessed, she bet enough to beat me by $1 if I had bet it all. She finished with $17,801 to my $17,200 and won the spot in the finals. As it turned out, she was a religion major. There were congratulations all around, and Alex praised my comeback. Amy moved off alone as Brad and I went to deal with our parting gifts. We were each given three sheets. One was a contract for $5,000 and a Nintendo Entertainment System. The other two listed the parting gifts we received for our two appearances. We were offered 14 items we could forfeit if we didn't want to pay the taxes. I accepted most of the prizes including $25 worth of Mentos candy and $50 worth of Matrix hair products. Games Two and Three were not as exciting but at the end we went to dinner again on the Soul Train set. The losers and finalists were not allowed to mix. The other losers and I had a great time at dinner. We took pictures in front of the Soul Train sign and joked the whole time. The Finals were anti- climactic. None of the players knew the Final Jeopardy! answers during the first game. Michael Thayer eventually won $25,000 for his winning effort (and a berth in the $100,000 Tournament of Champions, which the college champ won last year). After the congratulations, we k pictures on stage and Alex signed some autographs. Later that night we partied in the hotel, exchanged addresses and said our goodbyes. Overall, I finished in fourth place and earned $5,000 before taxes. (California takes 5 percent. Yes, I have to declare it as income on my federal return.) My goal before I left for California was not to lose in the first round. I achieved that, and to my relief, I felt that I had not embarrassed myself on TV. Justice Stevens saw my show and kindly wrote to congratulate me. I never would have guessed that Jeopardy! has such avid fans in such high places. He even told me that he "would be happy to welcome me to his chambers." Nothing wrong with that. The weekend was fantastic. I met a lot of great people and learned almost everything about the production of what I think is the greatest game show in television history. I enjoy the notoriety. I can't believe how many people actually saw my shows. Every day since I have returned to Ann Arbor total strangers have been congratulating me. I really am flattered and I thank you all for watching. The show was run again recently, and invited competitors for the next college taping. If you get the chance to take the test for Jeopardy, I'd be glad to help you with the answers... in the form of questions, of course. advocacy," said Fehlauer 'ving an outside voice telling the public to see a show or not see a show does nothing to educate the cast, he continued. "It only sells tickets, and we don't need to do that." Instead, they wish to be free to create and explore theater without worrying about public opinion. "Everyone involved is involved because they love theater. We aren't being paid a darn thing, and that's fine with us." "You don't want to be paid?" we asked. w "Not necessarily. Because no C one is being paid, we don't have to i go out begging for money, we don't have to do popular shows, atd we - don't have to sell tickets, so it gives Sus complete artistic freedom. We don't have to worry about offending season-ticket holders." Acting isn't the only part of any theater group, especially in the Basement. Commonly overlooked as an important part of the theater process are the technical personnel, including lighting and set designers. "The aura of a play can be determined by how the show is lit," said Fontichiaro, who is also the co-chairperson of Basement Arts. "I think the lights are another character in the show - not any more or less important than the actors." One of teunique advantages of the Arena is the collapsible set and transportable audience seating. "The designer can determine audience position. We've done shows in the round, three-sided, and traditional set-ups." In some shows, the cast practically sits with the audience, such asin Waitingfor Lefty, and Seascape with Sharks and Dancer by Don Nigro, to be produced this semester. "The audience will be almost involved in the play; the set goes right through the audience," said LSA drama student and Seascape director, Mark Wilson. Not only does Basement Arts provide a forum for actors, but it also supplies a creative outlet for technicians, while giving the necessary eC in as Fa shy La of fo th th th th+ pry T "I F ho ne Andy Newberi (left), a second-year student in LSA, ad Richard Perloff, a third-year law student, rehearse "Zoo Story." bloomed in small, unrestricted theaters not unlike the Basement. In the past two years numerous student playwrights have had their plays or works in progress produced by Basement Arts, allowing them to view their concepts on stage. Two Hopwood-winning plays are the direct result of the development provided in the Arena. "One work scheduled for this semester is so new that it hasn't even been named yet," said Fehlauer, speaking of a multi-media work by Noemi Zeigler. Basement Arts discourages written reviews of the works performed in the Arena and instead encourages one-on-one criticism. "We don't want to do anything that would make people afraid to take risks, and published criticism can become consumer LEGAL PUBL DOPE 4 . t n~uAK a NJ~~S M~ ~Kv~tM~. I U 741 c 9I FAVORgIE RITUAL .IS 'CocVA QED F S U GAR o*ws" W WIgvaTV CARTOON&S ALL 5ATmk MIRN t SIT SM OR EVEN TIVK '- S~t1m. I I. S+O tt' 0 A SEAN. I '1R1+l19CENDEltt1 l N , EXt'ERIQK , HU41' t IER COI15+00Y61 . + , r ' o + \ IS i i 1 l Welcome t lWeeku. J eoardy! Ansi ir heesmh usin Jeopardy! desk on the second floor of the Just who is that man who seems to be so charming, intelligent and dapper? -The Authoritative Calvin & Hobbes, p. 215 THREE TIMES DOPE LIVE FROM ACKNICKULOUS LAND Weak At The Knees Peace Ya' Self .9 on cassette Check out our CD's Single Selection on CD TODAY! IYOUNGBLOOD I'd Rather Go Blind Don't Keep Me Waiting , Sit And Wait. V I Al Siad~hn ress winniIvo~~B ~ c ~ii Achieve lower consciousness! Acadni last pot both ti in thei| a: Olymil Olymr A: Stadi a stadia " A: The CO fixed i A: wsdI A:rr Agrici most OK. in, chi nature 10 try The question I am most asked is "What is Alex Trebek really like?" using Alex is very aloof and quite certain of his superiority. He knows that as the host of Jeopardy! he is expected to know Cut everything and on the show he makes it ng sound as if he does. I will give him credit: you He is brilliant and probably would be a great player himself, but he is not dr infallible. yet It is not difficult to look smart when the aer answers are right in front of you. Even with that crutch he doesn't always get it Ury right. He reads every question before each ur show in his dressing room to check the pronunciation and, being a French- t... Canadian, his French is impeccable. freak But, if Alex misreads a question during ick! a game, the game continues. Afterwards, of the studio audience is silenced as Alex rereads the question and dubs over his For error. He dresses well. He has his own dresser who coordinates his outfits to make sure that he doesn't wear the same thing twice. He changes clothes between each show to support the myth that each show is shot on a different day. I was disappointed with Alex. He never talked to the contestants on a personal basis except when on stage. I thought he could have come over during dinner, even to make small talk. But he never made the slightest effort. During the shooting of our commercials he came out, without saying hello, and said, "People, let's see if we can't get this done quickly?" When one contestant missed a Final Jeopardy! question, Alex really let her know it. "No, sorry," Alex said. "You knew that was wrong but you just wanted to get something down, but of course it's wrong. How much did you lose?" T . . . , -" _ aA s j, NEW! by Bill Watterson The Authoritative Calvin & Hobbes T"Hi.F CALVIN AND HOBBES; .4 CavnnrdftbteJ rcu , by 5nLLwarmTCO ' h lestytcn~t?~rY - Y' $12.95 at book store 'I 1205 S. University 761-7177 9:30-7 Mon.-Thurs. 9:30-9 Fri. 9:30-6 Sat. 12:30-5 Sun. i' 'U! Guaranteed music- it, bring it back for e ste WEEKEND September 21,1990 -A-