September 2003

UM sponsors quiz show
for high school students
What vitamin is called riboflavin and protects
skin?

What word is used for the curved upper surface of a column of liquid in a thin tube?

Of what two crimes was Socrates accused at the age of 70?

Last year western Montana high school students answered these questions and many more to win scholarships in the first season of Brain Busters, an academic bowl game show sponsored by UM and its affiliated campuses.

The second season of the show starts in mid-October on NBC stations, and this time students statewide will get in on the fun. Shows will air Saturdays on KECI in Missoula, KCFW in Kalispell, KTVM in Bozeman, KFBB in Great Falls and KHBB in Helena, as well as Sundays on KULR in Billings. The statewide playoffs will be taped and aired in May.

Thirty-two teams from high schools in central and eastern Montana will compete in Billings while 32 teams from the western part of the state will compete in Missoula. The eastern and western champions will compete for the statewide championship. Each team has four members and two alternates for a total of 384 competitors. The competitions will be taped one Saturday each month at NBC stations KULR in Billings and KECI in Missoula.

Students compete for scholarships to UM campuses in Missoula, the Helena College of Technology, Montana Tech in Butte and UM-Western in Dillon.

Last year each of the members on the second place team received $500 scholarship offers. The members of the Frenchtown High School winning team each received $3,000 scholarship offers.

"Our students had a great time in Brain Busters," said Merle Johnston, an FHS teacher and the Brain Busters coach. "The great thing about the competition is that any school can win, it just takes one kid, one walking encyclopedia, who is really into trivia."

Johnston said the Frenchtown team plans to defend its title, and several of last year's team members are returning.

"Last year the Darby team had a student who knew everything, and he'll be a sophomore this year, so we're hoping we don't draw Darby in the first round," Johnston said.

The prizes have increased, as well as the competition for the second season of Brain Busters. The divisional runners-up will receive $1,000 scholarships and each member of the divisional championship teams will receive a $3,000 scholarship. The statewide runners-up will receive an additional $1,000 scholarship, while members of the statewide championship team will receive an additional $2,000. All contestants receive gift bags filled with Grizzly logo items, UM admissions packets and gifts from KECI, KULR and other sponsors.

University Relations | Cary Shimek, Editor
The University of Montana-Missoula
32 Campus Drive | Missoula, MT 59812
phone (406) 243-2522 | fax (406) 243-4520
© 2004 The University of Montana