Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company

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June 6, 1999, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

SECTION: Section 4; Page 7; Column 1; Week in Review Desk

LENGTH: 1108 words

HEADLINE: Word for Word/Trivia Marathon;

Pulling an All-Nighter at This College Means Acting Out 'Nietzsche in Love'

BYLINE: By THOMAS VINCIGUERRA

BODY:

'COLLEGES celebrate the end of the academic season with traditions peculiar to their institutions. Perhaps the defining word is peculiar. Wellesley seniors dress in their graduation gowns and roll wooden hoops around the campus. At Columbia, the marching band parades through the library on thenight before the organic chemistry final, probably to help concentrate the mind.

On the last night of classes at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., the student radio station WCFM conducts a marathon trivia contest. Teams ofalmost any number can enter. The twice-yearly event was first held some 30 years ago. The number of questions ranges from 500 to around 1,000.

Hundreds of questions are given over the air. Hundreds more are given out on paper, and they must be turned in, much like the tests students were supposedly studying for. Last month, a team called Pokemon Laboratory, which refers to a crucial locale in the popular Nintendo game Pokemon, won top honors after tackling such arcana as the names for all the members of the Jefferson Airplane. The prize? The winners get to put together next semester's test."... THOMAS VINCIGUERRA