By William Schexnayder
UHCLIDIAN STAFF

Sky Hawks team members Doni Wilson, John Gorman, David Day and David Lopez (right) celebrate their victory.
photo by William Schexnayder




Each fall an epic battle of wits unfolds on campus, a battle of literature wits that is. On Oct. 25, UH-Clear Lake faculty competed for bragging rights for the next year.

Lit Wit Jeopardy, modeled after the television game show, divides faculty into two teams competing for points while responding to questions based on literature. Students in Sigma Tau Delta and the Literature Club sponsored the event and made up the questions.

"I think it is a terrific event," said Gretchen Mieszkowski, director of humanities, professor of literature and Bluebirds team member. "Everybody has a very good time, but also it gives a feeling of belonging to something intellectual on this campus. I always think of a Renaissance celebration in the Middle Ages called the Feast of Fools, where the youngest person in the monastery gets to take the place of the bishop for a little while."

This year's teams featured Gretchen Mieszkowski, Craig White, Chloe Diepenbrock and Keith Parsons as the Bluebirds and John Gorman, David Day, David Lopez and Doni Wilson as the Sky Hawks.

After the first round of questions, the Sky Hawks held a worthy lead over the Bluebirds, but during the second round, the Bluebirds dominated. With only six questions left, the Bluebirds seemed unbeatable with a 6,000-point lead over the Sky Hawks.

In what could possibly have been the greatest comeback in the history of the event, David Lopez correctly named the "three musketeers" to bring the Sky Hawks back within reach of the title. With only Final Jeopardy remaining, the teams rested within just a few hundred points of each other.

During Final Jeopardy, the Bluebirds put all their points on the line, but failed to correctly identify Emily Dickinson as the author of "Publication is the auction of the mind of man," bringing their point total down to zero.

In the end, the Sky Hawks claimed victory, ending a winning streak enjoyed by the Bluebirds.

"One of the students, years ago, said that she was amazed at how competitive we are, because we're so nice and well balanced in the classroom," said John Gorman, professor of literature and Sky Hawks team member. "And then she said, 'Well, it must be because you all went to those competitive grad schools, and there is something in there that just comes out' . . . I am very happy to have that trophy and I'll flash it out at unexpected times during the year to my Bluebird enemies."

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