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(upbeat music) - Welcome to this year's semi-final game of WVIA "Scholastic Scrimmage."

I'm your host, Paul Lazar.

"Scholastic Scrimmage" is a question and answer competition featuring high school students from across the WVIA viewing area.

In each program, two schools will compete in a single elimination tournament for a chance to win one, three, or $5,000.

Tonight's semi-finals match features Berwick versus Mid Valley.

Representing Berwick are Jason Hitle, Fable Gunther, Thomas Depatista, and Josephine Morgan.

Their alternate is Riley Kirschner and their advisor is Todd Gunther.

Representing Mid Valley are Delaney Kanes, Jonah Harrington, Giada Vanye and Molly Bonick.

Their alternate is Ruby Lennon and their advisor is Stan Janowski.

"Scholastic Scrimmage" is a game of rapid recall of factual information.

So let's take a moment and review the rules.

The first team to buzz in will have an opportunity to answer a tossup question.

Correct answers to these questions are awarded 10 points and that team will then receive a five point bonus question.

If that tossup answer is incorrect, no points will be deducted, but the question will then rebound to the other team.

If the other team answers correctly, they'll be given the tossup points but will not receive a bonus question.

Well, let's go ahead and get the game started with this tossup question.

An Argand diagram is a representation of what set of numbers, whose elements can be written in polar form and of real and imaginary parts.

(buzzer beeps) Josephine, Berwick.

- A complex number.

- Is correct and here's your bonus and get your pencils and papers ready.

If a pair of standard six-sided dice are rolled, what is the probability that the two dice produce a sum of nine?

(gentle music) (buzzer beeps) - Three and four.

- That is incorrect.

We're looking for 1/9 or a one in nine.

All right, let's go to another tossup.

What man wrote about a doctor who dies while trying to reach a parrot in a novel about Fermina Daza and Florentino Ariza, "Love in the Time of Cholera."

(buzzer beeps) Thomas, Berwick.

- Garcia Marquez.

- Is correct, and your bonus now.

What Moon of Jupiter lends its name to a 2024 NASA clipper that will study whether the right conditions for life exist beneath its thick icy crust.

(buzzer beeps) - Dito?

- No, that moon is Europa.

Europa.

Here's our next tossup.

What country which recorded its first ever mosquitoes in 2025 was... (buzzer beeps) Jaxon, Berwick.

- Iceland.

- Is correct and here's your bonus.

In 2001, Liang Simian started a now aborted project to recreate the statues of what religious figure that the Taliban destroyed at Bamiyan.

(buzzer beeps) - The Buddha.

- The Buddha is correct for your bonus points, Berwick.

Let's go to another tossup.

What animals whose males form groups called coalitions are cats with small heads and large hind limbs that make... Molly, Mid Valley.

- Ocelots.

- Is incorrect.

I will finish the question and rebound to Berwick... That help make them the fastest land animals.

(buzzer beeps) Josephine.

- Cheetah.

- Cheetah is correct for your rebound points, Berwick.

Let's go on now to another tossup question.

What country where UNIP was the only legal political party under President Kenneth Kaunda was known before independence as Northern Rhodesia.

(buzzer beeps) Jaxon, Berwick.

- Zambia.

- Is correct.

And your bonus, a bureaucrat of the lower Archie explains how to corrupt souls in the screw tape letters, a novel by what author who also created the talking lion, Aslan.

(buzzer beeps) - CS Lewis.

- Is correct for your bonus points, Berwick.

Let's go to another tossup question.

What Greek God who lent Perseus his helm of invisibility and fed... Josephine, Berwick.

- Hermes.

- Is incorrect.

I'll finish the question and rebound... Molly, Mid Valley.

- Hades.

- Hades is correct for your rebound points, Mid Valley.

Let's turn to our next tossup question.

What condition which can be detected by measuring HCG levels in the urine lasts approximately 40 weeks and often causes morning... Thomas, Berwick.

- Pregnancy.

- Is correct.

And your bonus question, what quantity which equals mass times radius squared for a rotating point mass is the rotational analog of mass?

- Inertia.

(buzzer beeps) - Inertia.

- Be more specific.

- Rotational inertia.

- Is correct for your bonus points, Berwick.

Let's go on to another tossup question.

What author whose only novel is the "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym" wrote about a prisoner of the Spanish inquisition in "The Pit and the Pendulum."

Thomas, Berwick.

- Poe.

- Poe is correct and here's your bonus question.

The parsley massacre killed thousands of immigrants in what Caribbean country.

Led at the time by dictator Rafael Trujillo.

- It's Haiti isn't it?

- It's Dominican.

- Dominican Republic.

(buzzer beeps) - The Dominican Republic.

- Is correct for your bonus points, Berwick.

And that sound that you heard signals the end of the first quarter and it's now time for the lightning round.

In this segment, each team will have an opportunity to answer as many of the 10 rapid fire questions as they can in one minute.

Berwick has won the coin toss and will pick first.

Your categories are DNA or Groups of Europeans.

- Groups of Europeans.

- Okay, yeah.

(buzzer beeps) - We'll take Groups of Europeans, please.

- Groups of Europeans it is and your time begins when I finish reading the first question.

Name these groups of people from European history.

High ranking medieval vassals who fought on horseback.

(buzzer beeps) - Knights.

- [Paul] Yes.

Maine upper class of ancient Rome in contrast to plebeians- (buzzer beeps) - The equestrians.

- [Paul] Patricians.

Poor farmers who launched a namesake 1524 war- (buzzer beeps) - Peasants.

- [Paul] Yes.

A state of common people in old regime France.

(buzzer beeps) - The third estate.

- [Paul] Yes.

Russian laborers emancipated- (buzzer beeps) - Serfs.

- Yes.

French Protestants who won tolerance in the Edict- - Huguenots.

- Yes.

Religious group that became Moqui Moorish Coast in Spain after 1492.

(buzzer beeps) - Pass.

- [Paul] That's Muslims.

Aristocratic class of Prussia and Imperial Germany.

(buzzer beeps) - Kaiser.

- [Paul] Yonkers.

Elite soldiers who influenced Ottoman politics until 18- - Janissaries.

- [Paul] Yes.

Catholic order expelled from Portugal in 1759.

(buzzer beeps) - Jesuits.

- Jesuits is correct and that's going to do it for your portion of the lightning round, Berwick.

Mid Valley, it's over to you and your remaining category will be DNA.

And once again your time begins when I finish reading the first question.

Answer the following about DNA.

Base that pairs with cytosine.

(buzzer beeps) - Guanine.

- [Paul] Yes.

Organelle that stores most of a cell's DNA.

- Nucleus.

- [Paul] Yes.

DNA base replaced by uracil in RNA.

- Diamine?

- [Paul] Yes.

Tightly wound DNA containing structures human cells have 23 pairs.

- Chromosome.

- [Paul] Yes.

Lab technique that uses a gel and current to separate- - Gel electrophoresis.

- Yes.

Process that makes an MRNA copy of DNA.

- Transcription.

- [Paul] Yes.

DNA fragments on lagging strands named for Japanese biologists.

(buzzer beeps) - Okazami fragments.

- [Paul] Okazaki fragments.

Enzyme that is the P in the DNA synthesis method PCR.

- Pass.

- [Paul] Polymerase.

Dark lady of DNA whose X-ray photographs- - Rosalyn Franklin.

- [Paul] Yes.

Proteins such as H2 that inactive DNA wines around.

(buzzer beeps) - Pass.

- That is histones.

Alright, that's going to do it for our first lightning round and after that we have Berwick in the lead over Mid Valley 125 to 45.

As we begin the second quarter now with this tossup question, what dictator who demanded complete cultural change following year zero was known as brother number one and led the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.

Jaxon, Berwick.

- Pol Pot.

- Is correct and your bonus.

What two word Latin phrase refers to a legal doctrine that requires courts to follow precedents established in previous rulings.

(buzzer beeps) - Habeas corpus.

- No, that is Stare decisis.

Alright, here comes our next tossup question.

What process whose magnetic confinement type is used in ITERs efforts to generate clean energy involves lighter atoms combining into heavier ones.

Jonah, Mid Valley.

- Nuclear fusion.

- Is correct and here's your bonus.

What police inspector becomes obsessed with tracking Jean Valjean who eventually spares his life in Victor Hugo's novel "Les Miserable?"

(buzzer beeps) - Javert.

- Javert is correct for your bonus points, Mid Valley.

Let's go to another tossup.

What English author wrote about a young girl in the Harlow family in his novel "Clarissa" and use the subtitle, "Virtue Rewarded" for his novel "Pamela?"

(buzzer beeps) Fable, Berwick.

- Faulkner.

- Is incorrect.

Rebound in Mid Valley.

(buzzer beeps) - Robert Frost.

- No, this was Samuel Richardson.

Let's go to another tossup.

In a 2024 film, what character takes the name Kangaroo Mouse and drinks the water of life while leading the Fremen against the Harkonnen on Arrakis.

(buzzer beeps) Josephine, Berwick.

- Predator.

- Is incorrect.

Rebound to Mid Valley.

(buzzer beeps) - Albert Einstein.

- No, this was Paul Atreides, no relation.

Let's go on now to our next tossup question.

What river is crossed by the Dunn Memorial Bridge near Rensselaer is the eastern terminus of the Erie Canal and is named after an... Jaxon, Berwick.

- Hudson.

- Is correct.

And here's your bonus.

What is the profession of Stevens, a repressed man who works for Lord Darlington in Kazuo Ishiguro's novel, "The Remains of the Day."

(buzzer beeps) - A scientist.

- No, he is a butler.

Let's go to another tossup.

What company, the plaintiff in cases that created the actual malice libel rule and allow printing of the Pentagon Papers is a Manhattan newspaper.

(buzzer beeps) Josephine, Berwick.

- The New York Times.

- Is correct.

And your bonus question.

What historical region of the Western Czech Republic is now used as a term to describe an unconventional artistic type of person?

(buzzer beeps) - Bohemia.

- Is correct for your bonus points, Berwick.

Here's our next tossup.

What direction names the author of "The Day of the Locust," Nathanael and early 20th century... Molly, Mid Valley.

- Hawthorne.

- Is incorrect.

I'll finish and rebound to Berwick... And early 20th century performer and noted beauty, May, and lies opposite East.

(buzzer beeps) - Fable.

- West.

- Is correct, for your rebound points, Berwick.

Let's go on now to another toss up.

The Laplace correction is used to find what quantity for certain longitudinal waves, which is the rate of motion for audible vibrations?

Jonah, Mid Valley.

- Frequency.

- Is incorrect.

Rebound to Berwick.

(buzzer beeps) - Oscillation.

- No, this is the speed of sound.

All right, let's go on now to another tossup.

What type of statement such as one involving a foot race between Achilles and a tortoise proposed by Zeno of... Thomas, Berwick.

- Fable.

- Is incorrect.

I'll finish the question and rebound to Mid Valley... Proposed by Zeno of Elea logically contradicts itself.

(buzzer beeps) - A paradox.

- Is correct for your rebound points, Mid Valley.

And that sound that you heard signals the end of the first half and we're now going to give our contestants a little bit of a break and the opportunity for those of you at home to get to know them a little better and we'll start with the students from Berwick and Jaxon will come to you first.

We're almost at the end, this is the second to last game.

Can you tell us what it would mean to you if you were to win it all for Berwick?

- Well Paul, personally I think I'm going to steal the money and recover the wreck of Edmond Fitzgerald because it was so tragically lost in the Gales of November.

- I think you might need more than $5,000 for that, but great answer, thanks, Jaxon.

Fable.

- Well Paul, I think I would dedicate this win to the 29 men who lost their lives to the Gales of November on the Edmund Fitzgerald.

- Okay, thank you, Fable.

Thomas.

- Well Paul, I think I'd use that money to buy a book about the Edmund Fitzgerald from my local Barnes and Noble.

- All right, you pay about $5,000.

Josephine.

- Well, Paul, winning today, I'm not going to have an Edmund Fitzgerald answer.

We unfortunately would have to take a plane instead of a train to Atlanta.

- [Paul] Okay, and why is that?

- Because if we win we get to pay for our plane tickets, but me and my coach love to take the train.

- [Paul] Okay.

- But if we win we can't take the train.

- I see.

All right, well here's hoping that you do well the rest of the way.

Thanks, Berwick.

Good luck to you the rest of the way there.

Mid Valley, it's over to you.

Delaney, if you were to win it all for Mid Valley, what would that mean to you?

- If we won it all it would make our Panchero's trip even better.

(Paul laughs) - [Paul] Jonah.

- I just think winning it all would really bring our electrons to the next energy level.

- [Paul] Absolutely.

Giada.

- If we win we would make Mid Valley history.

- [Paul] All right, and Molly.

- If we win we'd make Tchaikovsky really proud.

- All right, well I'm sure you would.

Thank you, Mid Valley.

It was very nice to see everybody again.

Let's go ahead now and begin the third quarter with this tossup question.

What family of instruments includes the darbuka and the djembe maybe pitched... Molly, Mid Valley.

- A drum.

- Is correct and here's your bonus.

What tasks can be done with equilateral triangle, squares, or regular hexagons and involves covering a plane with no overlaps or gaps?

(buzzer beeps) - Tiling.

- Is correct for your bonus points, Mid Valley.

Let's go on now to another tossup.

What state where Lindel Fields replaced Ryan Walters, a school superintendent in 2025 abandoned its mandate to teach the Bible in public schools.

(buzzer beeps) Thomas, Berwick.

- Oklahoma.

- Is correct.

And here's your bonus now.

What state in southern Mexico which contains the Zapotec site of Monte Albán was home to Benito Juarez and is known for its cuisine such as moles.

(buzzer beeps) - The Yucatan.

- No, this is Oaxaca.

Oaxaca.

Let's go to another tossup.

What company whose forces won the 1757 Battle of Plassey was opposed by its own local forces in the Sepoy Mutiny and traded in goods... Jaxon, Berwick.

- The British East India Company.

- Is correct and your bonus question.

Frank Gifford was a long time announcer on what television program now presented by Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on ESPN.

(buzzer beeps) - "30 for 30."

- No, this is "Monday Night Football."

All right, here comes our next toss up.

What elements standard state is its orthorompic alpha structure consisting primarily of eight membered rings that make this non-metal yellow.

(buzzer beeps) Josephine, Berwick.

- Uranium.

- Is incorrect.

Rebound to Mid Valley.

(buzzer beeps) - Sulfur.

- Is correct for your rebound points, Mid Valley.

As we turn to our next tossup, what author portrayed Syphilitic painter Oswald and his drama, "Ghosts" and described a forgery committed by housewife Nora Helmer in "A Doll's House."

(buzzer beeps) Thomas, Berwick.

- Ipsen.

- Ipsen is correct and here's your bonus and get out your pencils and papers.

What is the discriminant of the quadratic expression?

5x squared plus 3x minus 4.

(gentle music) (sound beeps) Ran out of time there, that was 89.

Okay, here comes our next toss up question.

What number is the atomic number of chromium, names a 2000s realtime... Josephine, Berwick.

- 37.

- Is incorrect.

I'll finish and rebound to Mid Valley.

2000s realtime Fox TV show about Agent Jack Bauer and is the number of hours in a day?

(buzzer beeps) - 24.

- Is correct for your rebound points, Mid Valley.

Let's go to another tossup which will require your pencils and papers.

How many pints are in two gallons?

Given that there are two pints in a quart and four quarts in a gallon.

(buzzer beeps) Delaney, Mid Valley - 16.

- Is correct and your bonus now.

"Man, Controller of the Universe" and the "Detroit Industry Murals" are works by what Mexican painter?

(buzzer beeps) - Diego Rivera.

- Is correct for your bonus points, Mid Valley.

Let's go now to our next tossup.

What title animal is compared to the narrator Balram in a 2008 novel by Aravind Adiga and is described as burning bright in a poem by William Blake.

Molly, Mid Valley.

- Tiger.

- Is correct.

And your bonus question, carrots are a good source of what vitamin, whose forms include betacarotene.

(buzzer beeps) - A.

- A is correct for your bonus points, Mid Valley.

And that sound that you heard signals the end of the third quarter and another lightning round.

This time Mid Valley will pick first.

Your categories are Bay bonanza or big numbers.

- We'll do big numbers, Paul.

- Big numbers it is.

And your time begins when I finish reading the first question.

Give these answers that include one of the words thousand, million, or billion.

In a common saying what a picture is worth.

(buzzer beeps) - A thousand words.

- [Paul] Yes.

Salad dressing made from mayonnaise.

- Thousand island.

- [Paul] Yes.

Concentration unit abbreviated PPM.

(buzzer beeps) - Parts per million.

- [Paul] Yes.

Term for someone like Larry Ellison with 12 figure net worth.

(buzzer beeps) - Molly.

- Go.

- Pass.

- That's centibillionaire.

2024 hit song by Tommy Richmond.

(buzzer beeps) - "Million Dollar Baby."

- Yes.

Alternative English title for the "Arabian Knights."

(buzzer beeps) - Billion.

- "A Thousand and One Nights".

TV show about hedge fund owner, Bobby Axelrod.

(buzzer beeps) - Thousand.

- Billions.

Khaled Hosseini's second novel.

(buzzer beeps) - "A Thousand Splendid Suns."

- [Paul] Yes.

1995 demonstration in Washington DC led by Louis Farrakhan.

(buzzer beeps) - Pass.

- [Paul] Million Man March.

O. Henry Collection that includes "The Gift of the Magi."

- Pass.

- That is "The Four Million."

All right, Mid Valley that's going to wrap up your portion of the second lightning round.

Berwick, it's over to you.

And your remaining category will be Bay bonanza.

Once again, your time begins when I finish reading the first question.

Answer the following about the world's bays.

California Bay home to Alcatraz Island.

(buzzer beeps) - San Francisco Bay.

- [Paul] Yes.

Cuban Bay invaded by the US.

- Pigs.

- [Paul] Yes.

Largest bay in Canada named after an English explorer.

- Hudson.

- [Paul] Yes.

Colorfully named Wisconsin Bay that receives the Fox River.

(buzzer beeps) - Yellow.

- [Paul] Green Bay.

US state whose city of Newport overlooks Narragansett Bay.

(buzzer beeps) - Rhode Island.

- [Paul] Yes.

Mid-Atlantic Bay that is the largest estuary in the United States.

- Chesapeake.

- [Paul] Yes.

New South Wales Capital whose Botany Bay was discovered by James Cook.

(buzzer beeps) - Tasmania.

- Sydney.

European Peninsula south of the Bay of Bisque.

(buzzer beeps) - Liberian.

- [Paul] Yes.

City whose Elliot Bay is part of Puget Sound.

(buzzer beeps) - Seattle.

- [Paul] Yes.

Southeast Asian Bay whose entrance is home to Corregidor Island.

(buzzer beeps) - Ha Long Bay.

- That is Manila Bay.

All right, that's going to do it for the lightning round.

And after that we have Berwick in the lead over Mid Valley.

235 to 160.

And now we'll move into the final segment of the game with this tossup question.

What capital city did US forces capture in 1847 following the Battle of Chapultepec in which... Jaxon, Berwick.

- Mexico City.

- Is correct and your bonus.

Richard Kipling offered the advice to dream but not make dreams your master in what poem, whose title only contains two letters.

(buzzer beeps) - "If."

- "If" is correct for your bonus points, Berwick.

Let's go to another tossup.

What country which contains the historical region of Courland in its west is north of Lithuania and as a Baltic... Jaxon, Berwick.

- Latvia.

- Is correct.

And here's your bonus.

What David Childs design skyscraper completed in 2013 has a symbolic height of exactly 1,776 feet.

(buzzer beeps) - The Freedom Tower.

- Is correct for your bonus points, Berwick.

Let's go on to another tossup.

What stone which is commonly found in the host matrix kimberlite is the reference mineral for the hardness level of 10 on the Mohs scale?

Josephine, Berwick.

- Diamond.

- Is correct and your bonus question now.

What British Prime Minister responded to the Irish potato famine by breaking with his own conservative party to support the repeal of the corn laws?

(buzzer beeps) - Wellesley.

- No, this was Robert Peele.

All right, let's go to another tossup.

In what country did Rob Jetten's D66 party narrowly beat the PVV led by Geert Wilders in a 2025 election to the House of Representatives in the Hague?

(buzzer beeps) Josephine, Berwick.

- The Netherlands.

- Is correct and your bonus now.

Plastic recycling codes 2 and 4 signify the high and low density variance of what polymer made entirely from the simplest alkene?

(buzzer beeps) - Polyethylene.

- Is correct for your bonus points, Berwick.

Let's go on to another tossup.

What ruler who was urged to fight the Nika riots by his wife Theodora... Jaxon, Berwick.

- Justinian.

- Is correct and your bonus.

What American author turned down the Pulitzer Prize for his novel about a brilliant scientist who reluctantly treats a Caribbean plague, "Arrowsmith."

(buzzer beeps) - Sendak.

- No, this was Sinclair Lewis.

Let's go to another tossup question.

Glycerin is a solution containing what type of compound that has an isopropyl type used in hand... Josephine, Berwick.

- Alcohol.

- Is correct and your bonus now.

In boxing's original eight weight divisions, what second heaviest division is below heavy weight but above middle weight?

(buzzer beeps) - Welterweight.

- No, this is light heavyweight.

Okay, here comes our next toss up.

What rapper whose Lamborghini Urus inspired his first solo song since the album, "Utopia" titled "4x4" is from Houston... And Molly, Mid Valley.

- Travis Scott.

- Is correct.

And your bonus question.

The same process that formed the Appalachians also formed what North African Mountain range that runs from Morocco through Algeria into Tunisia?

(buzzer beeps) - Andes Mountain.

- No, these are the Atlas Mountains.

Here comes our next tossup question.

What project which required the United States to buy rights from Ferdinand de Lesseps cut a... Molly, Mid Valley.

- The Panama Canal.

- Is correct.

And here's your bonus question.

What class of elementary particles which comprises the electron, muon, tauon and their associated neutrinos does not experience the strong force.

(sound beeping) (buzzer beeps) - A gluon.

- No, that is a lepton and that's the end of the game.

And our winter tonight is Berwick over Mid Valley.

310 to 180.

Congratulations, Berwick, you are advancing to this year's final round.

And we'll see you next time with another round of "Scholastic Scrimmage."

I'm your host, Paul Lazar, and thank you for watching.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - [Announcer 1] WVIA Scholastic Scrimmage was made possible in part by... (bright orchestral music) - I am building my future, literally, at Luzerne County Community College.

(bright orchestral music) - We don't just talk about it, we build it.

- Your blueprints start here at Luzerne County Community College.

Are you a high school senior or a college student, trying to further your education?

The Luzerne Foundation can help.

The Luzerne Foundation is a northeastern Pennsylvania based community nonprofit that provides over 100 scholarships a year to students.

The Luzern Foundation, we are here for good.

- [Announcer 2] This is a place where bright minds meet, where innovative education and groundbreaking research thrive.

A world-class institution with renowned faculty and endless opportunity.

This is Binghamton University.