17 November 2009

Staff find that revenge is a dish best served cold

A famous victory appeared to be within touching distance for the upstarts taking on the establishment. But then, with the contest moving into its final stages, the dreams of the younger generation were shattered by a comeback equal to the combined efforts of Lazurus, Rocky Balboa and Lord Mandelson.

Last night’s second annual staff v students University Challenge saw the latter storm into a seemingly unassailable 100 point lead only for experience to win out in the end and for the academics to regroup and reclaim some pride in a thrilling finish.

The student team, defending the title their peers won at the inaugural challenge last year, passed up a late chance to tie things up when they failed to correctly answer the final bonus question. The event, which took place at the Dalhousie Building, ended in a narrow 315 points to 305 victory for the staff side.

The staff team consisted of Dr Jim McGeorge, University Secretary; Professor Anne Anderson, Vice-Principal, and Head of the College of Art, Science and Engineering; Professor Rob Duck, Dean of the School of Social and Environmental Sciences; and Dr Paul Andrews, of the College of Life Sciences.

Facing them were the student team of Gary Cocker (School of Humanities); Matthew Hastings (School of Medicine), Connor Bowen (College of Life Sciences), and Tom Potton (College of Life Sciences)

BBC Scotland’s political editor Brian Taylor played the Jeremy Paxman role as question master for the night. All of the questions were supplied by one of the contributors to the BBC’s actual University Challenge programme, although that didn’t prevent accusations that the students were getting the easier questions.

Of particular concern was the obvious advantage when answering questions relating to television cartoons. Speculation is rife that sitting through screenings of The Simpsons and Family Guy will become a compulsory part of future staff induction sessions.

A sizeable crowd of staff, students and members of the public ensured that a healthy sum was raised for The Vine Trust Charity.

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Grant Hill
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University of Dundee
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