How well do you know the Princeton campus? Test your knowledge by naming the locations of these atypical views, and e-mail your responses to The Weekly Blog. One lucky winner will receive a vintage Princeton Alumni Weekly poster. Answers will be revealed in the Oct. 17 blog post.
Questions and answers with a Jeopardy! champ
The clue: A $75,000 winner on the Jeopardy! Teen Tournament last year, he walked through FitzRandolph Gate at this year's annual Pre-Rade. The answer: Who is David Walter ’11? Walter, a Wilmington, Del., native, earned teen champion honors on the popular game show last spring. On campus, he is a member of Mock Trial and hopes to write for The Daily Princetonian this year. In September, he spoke with The Weekly Blog's Julia Osellame ’09.
How did you become a Jeopardy! contestant?
First, I took an online test and then I got an e-mail from the show saying that I was invited to New York for the next round. There, they had us play a fake game and then interviewed all of us. A month after that, in December, I was on a school trip and when I came back, my dad told me I made it. They taped 10 shows over two days. I was on four ... . They had us change clothes for each episode to make it look like it was a different day. What was your winning question?
The category was Greek mythology and the question was, "Fittingly, the name of this Titan may be derived from the Ancient Greek meaning to bear or to support." The answer was, "Who is Atlas." I wagered $5,300 and beat the other contestant by $100. Do you keep in touch with the other contestants?
Yes, we've all been keeping in touch through e-mail and Facebook. Even though we were thrown together randomly to be on the show, they had us together a lot so we bonded pretty fast. What did you gain from being on the game show that you think might help you at Princeton?
First, confidence in handling myself under pressure. I was able to still function and think and speak really well in a situation that I had never faced before. Also, I hadn't slept at all during the whole time that I was in L.A. If I can win Jeopardy! with no sleep I think that bodes well for any other situations that I might encounter while studying at Princeton. What made you more nervous - waiting to find out the Final Jeopardy answer or waiting for your Princeton acceptance letter?
The Princeton acceptance letter for sure. I've actually discussed this with my family before and they've asked me if I could only have one, winning Jeopardy! or getting into Princeton, which would it be? It would definitely be Princeton. Photo courtesy of Jeopardy! Productions Inc.
A new home in old Stanhope
Valerie Smith, middle, the director of the Center for African American Studies, joins students, faculty, and staff at the Oct. 2 dedication of the center's new home at the refurbished Stanhope Hall. Smith said she hopes that the center will be a "gathering space for intellectual exchange" about issues of race in America. Photo by Frank Wojciechowski
Tigers in October
For Princeton's major-league pitchers, Chris Young ’02 and Ross Ohlendorf ’05, the postseason was short-lived. Young's San Diego Padres lost a one-game playoff for the National League's wild-card berth, and Ohlendorf's New York Yankees were sent home by the Cleveland Indians in the American League Divisional Series. But two Princeton alumni will continue to play a role in baseball's playoffs: Indians general manager Mark Shapiro ’89 and Boston Red Sox president Larry Lucchino ’67. Their teams will face off in the American League Championship Series, starting Oct. 12.
In 2004, Lucchino helped the Red Sox win their first World Series in 86 years, and Shapiro is hoping to end another long streak of futility. Cleveland has not won baseball's top prize since 1948 and likely will be the underdog against Boston, but Shapiro has confidence in his young team. "We're going to put up a fight," he told MLB.com. "You can bet on that."
Sheinkman ’85's latest, in New York
"Concourse" (96 by 175 inches; oil, alkyd, and graphite on linen), pictured above, is one of several new works that artist Mark Sheinkman ’85 will be exhibiting at the Von Lintel Gallery in New York (555 West 25th St.) from Oct. 11 through Nov. 24. Earlier this year, when the Philadelphia Inquirer reviewed a previous show, critic Edith Newhall wrote that the smoke-like lines in Sheinkman's recent pieces have "an appealingly mysterious character." The new exhibition is Sheinkman's 10th solo show in New York. Photo courtesy of Chris Burke.
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