Was it looks, was it charm, or was it just the cash? The Sofa Kings, led by Greg Jacobs, were the ultimate winners of the Trivia Challenge, bidding $500 for the points that put them over the top. The Trivia Tigers, led by Monica Taliaferro, came close in the bidding offering more than $400, with donations coming in from other tables around the room.
Where then did the brains lie, though? The SPIKES, led by Tarrilynn Wall, took top honors on points alone. The questions ranged from the colors of the Olympic Circles to Gerald Ford’s middle name covering sports, entertainment, history, geography, literature and more. The team who fared the worst received a set of reference books so they could bone-up on their answers for the next challenge.
While the winners will have bragging rights for months to come, the real winners at the Trivia Challenge were the students. The event raised more than $1,500 for the Brookhaven Book Fund that is coordinated and managed by the Faculty Association. This single fund-raising event will cover approximately half of the funds distributed throughout an academic year.
The book fund helps students who need to get textbooks or who need assistance getting materials until their financial aid or next paycheck arrives. The fund holds textbooks that were donated by professors or that have been purchased with the funds and loans them to students in need. In addition, copy cards are given to students who need to copy some book pages until they can purchase the book.
There were a large number of people involved in making the event a success in addition to all the participants and team leaders. Bob Smith, PSSA president, inspired the event with a trivia competition, led by Terri Edrich, college director of human resources, at a PSSA potluck. Terri oversaw the trivia itself choosing categories and questions and recruiting the scorekeepers. Nita Drescher, developmental reading professor, coordinated the trivia teams themselves. Others like, Carrie Schweitzer, Susan Osgood, Facilities Services, Lynne Levesque, Jane Quetin and the Human Resources Office staff pitched in to pull it all together.
