Held Maintains His Wit

JOSHUA HELD GIVES AN ORAL DEFENSE THAT SEALS HIS VICTORY

Returning Battle of the Wits champion Joshua Held reclaimed his title and $100 at the second annual Trinity academic triathlon Tuesday.

Mathematics Professor and television’s Millionaire contestant Paul Bialek emceed the event, sponsored by Student Government Association (SGA) and organized by Academic Life Director Laura Gisler.

Thirty student contestants took the Lew Student Center stage for the first round spell-off. The official word list was compiled from the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
“Venom” was the first word, and first eliminated was Eddie Pascual, defeated by a calorie-free vegetable.

“C-E-L-L-E-R-Y,” spelled Pascual, who volunteered for the event to earn extra credit points in Bialek’s calculus class.

Pascual joined the hundred or so spectators who feasted on a free assortment of Buffalo Wild’s take-out wings, potato wedges, salad, brownies and beverages. Those who attended were also offered free raffle tickets for the chance to win four $5 Starbucks giftcards upon answering correctly random Trinity trivia.

Moral standards were also tested as a contestant conceded that he accidentally misspelled “paradigm” with an “n” instead of an “m.” The judges’ panel was uncertain of the misspelling because of the contestants’ speedy correction.

Sitting in on the panel were Academic Dean Steve Pointer, Senior Vice President for Student Affairs Coffee Washington, Professor of English William Graddy, and Professor of Biblical Studies Samir Massouh.

Trinity Hall Resident Assistant Laura Costerisan was flawless and impressive in the Spelling Bee round, securing one of the six positions for the second round: Team Trivia.

When a contestant successfully spelled a word, Bialek would shake his head as he proclaimed, “That is correct!” – a ruse he may have learned from Millionaire and The View host Meredith Vieira. When a contestant misspelled a word, Bialek would console them with phrases like, “That was a tough one,” and “I’m sorry, the correct spelling is…”

Held credited his sophomore biology course after dominating cnidocyte – a word that sent Bialek into the Merriam-Webster Third International dictionary for accurate pronunciation. Despite misspelling cheroot, “C-H-E-R-O-U-T,” and a few other words during a spell-off against Christina Jensen, Held earned himself a spot on Team One for the second round competition.

The six finalists for Team Trivia were: Team One: Joel Sanford, Joshua Held, and Joshua Kalb and Team Two: Christina Jensen, David Rabe, and Laura Costerisan. This round played similar to Jeopardy and included categories reminiscent of academic courses offered at Trinity.

“What is Cold Family?” contributed Laura Costerisan when Team Two was to name the slide of a Pablo Picasso painting of the Blue Period. The correct question was “What is The Tragedy?”

“Samir Massouh wrote the Old Testament,” teased Bialek during a Bible questioned that was disputed. Massouh was frequently consulted for judgment on Bible topics.

The contestants, judges and hosts were not the only ones enjoying the game. Spectators entertained and impressed themselves as they played along from the audience, spelling the handful of words they recognized and the random trivia they happened to know the answers to.

Sanford, Held and Kalb won the Team Trivia round. The three finalists advanced to the third and final round: Oral Defense.

Kalb went first and struggled through an issue concerning retail and consumption tax, arguably the toughest topic of the night. The question was hard and he felt awful, he said, although his glowing demeanor told otherwise when he exited the Lew with his arm over the shoulder of brother Ben Kalb.

Sanford, second, addressed the global warming issue lightly and with casual confidence. His performance sufficed for second place and $50.

Finally, Held was to compare 2008 presidential candidates. He spoke smoothly and coherently using attractive hand gestures, volume, pitch and rate while delivering his carefully constructed answer – however careful one can construct an answer in a minute and a half with little time for preparation.

Next for SGA is Trinity’s coed Dodgeball Tournament scheduled Sunday Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. Teams of 6-10 players can sign-up in the Lew Student Center since Monday. First prize is $300.

No Wins for the Trojans

Winter came before the snow for athletics here at Trinity International University (TIU).

Men’s Soccer ended their season at St. Xavier University Friday night, losing 2-0 in the NAIA Region VII quarterfinal. The Center Referee endured harsh criticism for calling a seemingly one-sided match for the Cougars.

“We disagree,” shouted Director of Student Affairs Adam Gustine from the stands after a dubious foul was called for the wrong team. Gustine was respectful and his sentiment was understood, said Associate Dean of Students Greg Leeper who had sat next to Gustine in the stands.

“Nuts and bolts, nuts and bolts, we got screwed!” chanted another disapproving fan at the final whistle, though eliciting an embarrassed response than a proud one.

This year the team experienced one of their most unique seasons, said senior captain Caleb Redelman. They went nine games with no wins (0-8-1), but stole second place in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) and earned a bid into the Region VII tournament.

“We had a good group of guys,” said Redelman, “We never gave up hope that we could win.” The men finished 6-12-1 overall.

Women’s Volleyball ended their season at the University of St. Francis Tuesday night, losing in the fourth game (30-17, 31-33, 30-28, 30-21) of the CCAC quarterfinal.

“I feel good about how we played,” said Coach Jill Rokosik. Her eyes and mouth told the story of a coach who was still recovering. The women finished 13-22, shoddy compared to last year’s 24-18 finish at the NAIA Region VII semi-final.

Women’s Soccer is exhausting all opportunities for post-season play again this year. They ended their NAIA future hopes Oct. 26 at St. Xavier, losing 2-1 in the NAIA Region VII quarterfinal.

But, unlike the men, their current overall record is above 50 percent (9-8-1), which makes them eligible by TIU standards to compete in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA). The women play in the NCCAA North Region semi-final against Judson University 7:30 at St. Xavier tonight.

Men’s Football lost by a touchdown at St. Francis Saturday, 13-6. They finish their season in Davenport, Iowa against St. Ambrose University at 1 p.m. tomorrow. The men are 2-8 overall.
Men’s Varsity Basketball suffered tight losses in their first to games of the season. The men were defeated at Mount Mercy College (IA) 79-73 Tuesday.

“The team is playing really well. Our freshmen are putting in some good minutes,” said senior captain Chad Reilly, despite the losses.

Women’s Basketball also came up just short Tuesday at home against Viterbo University (WI) 57-52.

The only win of the week was Men’s JV Basketball at home against Trinity Christian College – a win only recorded in the minds of those who care.