(Above, standing) Clinton Young, assistant professor of history, asks a question at Western's first College Bowl tournament. Winning team "Almost Perfect Strangers" is pictured at right.

The student team called “Almost Perfect Strangers” narrowly won Western Carolina University’s first College Bowl tournament earlier this month and is preparing for regional championships to be held at Virginia Tech in February.

Five teams competed in the question-and-answer game, which combines academic material, popular culture, current events and sports in a format emphasizing quick recall. Questions at WCU’s contest ranged from identifying a Latino American recording artist and boxer who holds world titles as a superlightweight, a lightweight, a welterweight, a junior middleweight and a light-middleweight (Answer: Oscar de lay Hoya) and the French- and Flemish-speaking capital of Belgium (Answer: Brussels).

Winning team members were Jesse Climer, a senior marketing major from Pisgah Forest; Joshua Corsa, a senior in the pre-medicine program majoring in emergency medical care from Kill Devil Hills; Katie Paxton, a senior majoring in history and secondary education from Canton; and Charles Teal, a junior computer information systems major from Matthews.

Corsa, Paxton, Teal and Jan Carrier, a senior majoring in English literature and communications from Cullowhee, will represent Western at the regional championship Feb. 22-24.

Western’s College Bowl tournament was sponsored by the Committee on Student Learning and Last Minute Productions, and produced with help from student, faculty and alumni volunteers. Lead organizers were Laura Cruz, assistant professor of history and member of the Committee on Student Learning; James Contratto, assistant director for University Center programs; and Kendra Johnson, a senior political science major from Lenoir who works for the WCU Public Policy Institute. Event judges were Clinton Young, assistant professor of history, and Julia Barnes, associate professor of mathematics. Timekeepers and scorekeepers included Tabitha Justice, a senior psychology major from Canton.

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Last modified: Thursday, Nov. 15, 2007