KDTN PRESENTS Mindgames

Think fast. Name a Tennessee Williams play set in New Orleans.

Faster. President Bush has said he would like to be remembered as the president.

Faster still. What’s the new Channel 2 series that features high school teams competing for academic prizes?

Stop. If your first two replies are “A Streetcar Named Desire” and education, you’ve just answered two easy-to-moderate questions for high school students on Channel 2’s new series. If you know that Academic Varsity Bowl is the name of the series, you probably work for this station.

Broadcast on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. beginning January 24 and repeated Saturdays at 6 p.m. on Channel 2, Academic Vanity Bowl will feature North Texas high school students competing weekly. Lively and challenging for participants and audiences alike, Academic Varsity Bowl rewards excellence among North Texas students.

“The series gives bright young people a stage the same way a football player has all kinds of glory and laurels,” says Chip Beall, Academic Varsity Bowl’s host and writer. “It’s important for the academically talented to be recognized.”

For the next 27 weeks, four-student teams from 26 area high schools will vie for academic honors before a studio audience of parents, teachers and friends. Each week’s winning team will continue to compete in the elimination tournament, with the final winner eligible for the nationwide competition in June.

Texas Instruments Foundation has provided major funding for the new series which, like the former series G.E. College Bowl, demands quick-and accurate-wits. Questions span several categories, including science, mathematics, history, literature, art, music and general knowledge.