Do we have a University Challenge team?

[JP]

And if so, how do I contact them/practice/try to get on the team...

Thanks!

[yank]

I was wondering that too...

[hr]"I am responsible to only God and history." - Francisco Franco

[Tarquin]

Firstly, no americans will be allowed to participate on such a team. And secondly, if u dont know whether we have a team or not, then u really wouldn't get on the team. Practice? What kind of chat is this?

[yank]

[s]Tarquin wrote on 22:20, 22nd Nov 2004:
Firstly, no americans will be allowed to participate on such a team. And secondly, if u dont know whether we have a team or not, then u really wouldn't get on the team. Practice? What kind of chat is this?


Oxford had an american...as did some other university, I saw...so yeah, piss off.

[hr]
"I am responsible to only God and history." - Francisco Franco

[Big X]

[s]JP wrote on 21:14, 22nd Nov 2004:
And if so, how do I contact them/practice/try to get on the team...

Thanks!


PRACTICE!! you cant practice being an awesome genius, you just are one. ask dirac. i think an e-mail went round last year inviting people along for a bit of a tryout in hut/venue 2, i think it was in second semester. does anybody remember the team from last year, there was a chick who was doing astronomy, if memory serves, who was WHACK! she couldnt even get the astronomy questions right and kept interupting paxman, and then getting the answers wrong, thus incurring a 5 point penalty. the captain was ACE though, he was really clued up on loads of amazing shit.

keep it real wherever you are

love from the cooler

Big X

[Jamie potton]

Yes, there is/was a UC team - the heats were held in the summer at the Granada Studios in Manchester. Keep watching! Our rounds will be on soon.

Meanwhile, competition heats up for a new team for next year - as the SSC University Challenge Convenor (oh, the power) it is my job to pick a new set of wunderkinde to represent us.
The BBC will soon be organising the next series, so keep learning those useless facts!

[Tarquin]

[s]Big X wrote on 22:48, 22nd Nov 2004:
[s]JP wrote on 21:14, 22nd Nov 2004:[i]
And if so, how do I contact them/practice/try to get on the team...

Thanks!


PRACTICE!! you cant practice being an awesome genius, you just are one. ask dirac. i think an e-mail went round last year inviting people along for a bit of a tryout in hut/venue 2, i think it was in second semester. does anybody remember the team from last year, there was a chick who was doing astronomy, if memory serves, who was WHACK! she couldnt even get the astronomy questions right and kept interupting paxman, and then getting the answers wrong, thus incurring a 5 point penalty. the captain was ACE though, he was really clued up on loads of amazing shit.

keep it real wherever you are

love from the cooler

Big X
[/i]

Thats a great point there Big X, i completely agree with your ideas about practicing. How would one practice out of interest for the show? Do a few excercises in preparation for a Uni Challenge tutorial? Anyone needing to practice/considering practicing for the show should totally not be on the programme. How is life in Hut 2? Im about to get back to my work, im stuck on question 3 of a practice exam paper for my university challenge exam next week.....

[Big X]

well, life in hut 2 is frantic at the moment, essays in for wednesday and the tunnel still isnt finished yet! how will i hand in my essay? basically just thinking of maxing out a few of those massive books of facts as practice, as well as watching eggheads/15 to 1/uni challange/QI. basically just trying to learn everyhing, still got to read Twelfth Night and Hamlet again though, the 2 major Shakespearean i havnt done recently.

[Eliot Wilson]

I don't think you can practice in any meaningful sense, really. You either know stuff or you don't. Still, doing quizzes from time to time can't hurt.

[hr]Bill and Ted beat the Grim Reaper at Twister

Bill: "You played very well, Death, especially with your totally heavy Death robes."

Death: "Don't patronise me."

[Saki]

[s]Eliot Wilson wrote on 00:43, 23rd Nov 2004:
I don't think you can practice in any meaningful sense, really. You either know stuff or you don't. Still, doing quizzes from time to time can't hurt.

[hr]Bill and Ted beat the Grim Reaper at Twister

Bill: "You played very well, Death, especially with your totally heavy Death robes."

Death: "Don't patronise me."


My boyfriend was on last season (for an Oxford college) and their team practiced. It helps get you in the mood, if nothing else. Gets those reflexes going. Not going to make you know anything you don't already know, but it may help you recall what you know faster/know your team-mates and their strengths better.

[The_Farwall]

[s]Eliot Wilson wrote on 00:43, 23rd Nov 2004:
I don't think you can practice in any meaningful sense, really. You either know stuff or you don't.


But surely you have to learn your stuff at some point? I lived with a guy who was on last year's Queens Belfast team and they apparently spent their time reading encyclopedias and texts and all the newspapers.

And then they where knocked out in the second round. By St Andrews :7D

[hr]
[s]Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way.[/s]

[Eliot Wilson]

Well, quite so. We put Queen's to flight pretty comprehensively.

[hr]Bill and Ted beat the Grim Reaper at Twister

Bill: "You played very well, Death, especially with your totally heavy Death robes."

Death: "Don't patronise me."

[Guest]

The series being shown on tv at the moment was filmed over the summer, our team having being picked via open competition in march. No doubt the union will advertise again in the new year for next years team....

[Guest]

'Meanwhile, competition heats up for a new team for next year - as the SSC University Challenge Convenor (oh, the power) it is my job to pick a new set of wunderkinde to represent us. '

How will we know when these people are going to be chosen?

[RJ Covino]

[s]Unregisted User wrote on 23:55, 22nd Nov 2004:
How will we know when these people are going to be chosen?

Selection rounds traditionally begin before the Easter holiday. The SSC University Challenge Convenor, a post held unofficially for some years by Eloise Govier, along with a selection panel (usually made up of past University Challenge competitors still hanging around St Andrews, such as myself or the emminent Mr Eliot Wilson), will be advertising the rounds via the usual Association advertising mechanisms alongside some "hilarious" posters of Paxman, star of Bridget Jones II: The Sequel, which are provided by the good folk at Granada television.

[JP]

even the rude ones. I can assure you that I am not American, though that should not hold anyone back from competing if they are good, so quit discriminating. I participated in a different quiz competition for several years at another school and we practiced at least twice a week during "game season," improving reaction times on buzzers, studying previous games and the kinds of questions to expect, and learning new things every week. Each person on the team was expected to study different assigned topics, like film history, specific science facts, WWII, etc, and would become the designated person to cover those subjects for the team. That way we had the best buzzer response time and were a really strong well-rounded team. let me assure you that there is a way to "practice." Just like everything else in life you have to work to succeed.
I was just curious how it works here regarding the University Challenge team. Thanks for your answers.

[Tarquin]

Haha. i wasnt discriminating, i was just bored that night so thought id choose to annoy someone...in that case, americans! Good luck getting on the team, practice hard and lets see if u can defeat dirac, Big X, tg or superiorjames to a place on the team. The competition begins!!!!!!!

[Dirac]

[s]Big X wrote on 22:48, 22nd Nov 2004:
[s]JP wrote on 21:14, 22nd Nov 2004:[i]
And if so, how do I contact them/practice/try to get on the team...

Thanks!


PRACTICE!! you cant practice being an awesome genius, you just are one. ask dirac. i think an e-mail went round last year inviting people along for a bit of a tryout in hut/venue 2, i think it was in second semester. does anybody remember the team from last year, there was a chick who was doing astronomy, if memory serves, who was WHACK! she couldnt even get the astronomy questions right and kept interupting paxman, and then getting the answers wrong, thus incurring a 5 point penalty. the captain was ACE though, he was really clued up on loads of amazing shit.

keep it real wherever you are

love from the cooler

Big X
[/i]

I just read books. At the moment i am reading "The book of everything".Facts are the way forward, but so are current affairs.

It's all about maxing out with housemates on a monday night, 8.30, BBC2.

And yes, i believe the question she got wrong was along the lines of "What function has the value of infinity at x=0 and the value of zero everywhere else?"

....It's the Dirac delta function....