The air was filled with camaraderie and competition as teams battled for the title of Trivia Bowl champion and the coveted Rice Cup.

On October 9, 2009, Los Angeles area journalists, lawyers and corporate sponsors gathered at the Japanese American National Museum for the 15th annual Asian American Journalists Association Los Angeles Chapter Trivia Bowl.

The event pits teams against one another as they answer 100 questions in four rounds. ABC 7 Anchor David Ono served as masters of cermonies for evening.

After the trivia questions are read each round and teams get two minutes afterward to deliberate the answer before handing in their answer sheet. The team with the most correct answers wins the competition.

After each round of competition, attendees had the opportunity to bid for live/silent auction items and win prizes from raffle drawings.

With all the proceeds going towards scholarships, stipends, and fellowships for students as well as professional journalists, many guests were more than willing to support the cause.

For first time,  the chapter awarded the Sam Chu Lin Memorial Scholarship, funded by Southern California Edison.

Dinner for the night was provided by Wahoo’s Fish Tacos and dessert was sponsored by Blackmarket Bakery.

For a complete list of sponsors visit: http://aaja-la.org/trivia-bowl/sponsors-of-trivia-bowl/

After some fierce competition, the Japanese American Bar Association emerged as the winner. Second place went to the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, and third place was the Los Angeles Times.

For more photos, see the Trivia Bowl set by Derek Lieu.

The applicants were asked to submit a resume, an official school transcript, two letters of recommendation, a short essay and work samples. Students were selected on the basis of their commitment to the field of journalism, sensitivity to Asian American and Pacific Islander issues, journalistic ability, scholastic ability and financial need.

This year’s judges were Bob Bayer, a retired longtime editor at the Los Angeles Times; Frank Buckley, co-anchor of KTLA’s “Morning News” and a former AAJA scholarship winner; Henry Fuhrmann, assistant managing editor at the Times and a former AAJA-LA chapter president; and Traci Tamura, a senior producer with CNN. Frank and Henry co-chaired the selection committee.

$2500 AAJA Sam Chu Lin Scholarship

Stephen Nelson, Chapman University

Stephen is the first recipient of the Sam Chu Lin Memorial Scholarship, funded by Southern California Edison, and a most worthy candidate to carry on Sam’s legacy in Los Angeles broadcasting. Stephen, a third-year student, is working toward bachelor’s degrees in television/broadcast journalism and public relations/advertising. At Chapman, he has created, hosted, written and acted in radio and TV shows. His instructors extol his writing and leadership skills; his colleagues with the Los Angeles Angels, for whom he works as a camera operator, cite his professionalism and eagerness to learn. In the judges’ view, Stephen has what it takes to become an accomplished sports broadcast journalist.

$2500 AAJA Los Angeles Scholarship

Stephanie Lau, USC

Stephanie, a third-year major in public relations and East Asian languages and cultures, stood out among the applicants for her sensitive take on issues of culture and ethnicity. As diversity beat reporter for USC’s Daily Trojan, she wrote an impressive news feature in response to media claims that the election of Barack Obama had toppled racial barriers in politics; the comments she elicited from fellow students told a more nuanced story. Stephanie so impressed her bosses during an internship last year at AsianWeek that they appointed her one of two managing editors of their 2008 Beijing Olympics special insert. Her philosophy: “With words, I can reveal truths, battle ignorance and inspire change.”

$1500 AAJA Peter Imamura Scholarship

Tercius Bufete, LACC/CSUN

Tercius is “the future,” as one of our judges put it: a multi-platform journalist who has demonstrated his talents as a cartoonist, writer, Web designer and video producer. In his writing, an English professor notes, Tercius offers “sophisticated insight which doesn’t go out of its way to announce its complexity.” In his scholarship essay, Tercius offers examples of such insight: “It is not wealth, property or fame that is essential but family, respect and spirituality, the foundation of the Asian community, which we should cherish.” He plans to enroll at Cal State Northridge after graduating from LACC.

$1500 AAJA Los Angeles Scholarship

Saba Mohtasham, UCLA

Saba is a third-year student at UCLA, majoring in international development studies. She impressed her editor during an internship at Entertainment Weekly as a “terrific writer, enterprising reporter and skilled surveyor of the cultural landscape.” There, he said, Saba delivered work that rivaled that of professionals with decades of experience, including a well-received blog covering “Flight of the Conchords.” Saba is trilingual, with aspirations to learn more languages. She writes: “I’ve always believed that the best way to make this world a better place is to understand it to the best of our abilities.”

$500 AAJA Los Angeles Scholarship

Jane Suh, UCI

Jane is a fourth-year student at Irvine, pursuing bachelor’s degrees in literary journalism and French. She is a dean’s honor list student and Golden Key Scholar. Jane impressed the judges with her literary journalism project on North Korean refugees and the difficulties they encounter in the free world. One of her instructors cited her “antenna for the telling nuance.” Jane, who has traveled widely in Asia through missions and youth outreach programs, aspires “to write about the people that are transforming the world … the ordinary, average people who are making a difference on a daily basis.”

$500 AAJA Los Angeles Scholarship

Joseph Prado, CSUN

Joseph won over the judges as an energetic, talented broadcast journalist. He has done every job imaginable – field reporter, writer, camera operator, teleprompter operator, audio technician, editor and anchor – for the campus news program “Valley View News.” Joseph is a sports intern at KABC and is set to graduate from Northridge this semester. One of his professors describes Joseph as “the kind of person we want in our industry.” He not only covers sports but plays them – football and rugby – and impressed his instructors by overcoming a serious jaw injury to complete his studies.

Scholarship recipients will be honored October 9 at the chapter’s Trivia Bowl fundraiser.

Last year, the team of Fong & Chun and the law offices of Stuart Folinsky scored 70 of a possible 100 points, defeating 20 other entrants for first place and possession of the coveted Rice Cup. In doing so, they proved yet again that the lawyers were superior to the journalists in their knowledge of trivia.

By Joyce Chen

GLENDALE, Calif. — When lawyers and journalists are put in the same room, there is usually cause for large amounts of tension and heated debate.

At the Asian American Journalists Association’s 14th annual Trivia Bowl held on Friday, Oct. 17, 25 teams battled it out over five rounds of trivia questions, ranging in topic from current events to sports and California lifestyle to arts and entertainment.

“The lawyers always show up and ruin our fun,” quipped David Ono, anchorman for ABC- Channel 7 Eyewitness News and host for the night.

His comment was met with uproarious laughter, journalists chuckling at the friendly rivalry.

The Immigration Law Offices of Fong & Chun and Stuart Folinsky took home first prize last year, and would later sweep the competition away at this year’s event with a repeat performance.

Wahoo’s Fish Tacos was the official food sponsors for the night and Dot’s cupcakes provided much-needed sugar fuel.

After a few opening remarks from AAJA-LA President, KNBC and NBC correspondent Jinah Kim, the trivia bowl began, and the room simmered down from its initial joking banter into a muted hush as everyone racked their brains for answers.

At the end of each round, a panel of judges, composed of editors and real judges, tallied scores and adjusted the ranking for each of the 25 teams.

Whoops of delight echoed throughout the room whenever a team fared well, and even when teams didn’t do as well as they hoped, the vibe of friendly competition stayed on through the course of the night.

At the Wahoo’s Fish Taco Team II, made up of AAJA scholars and friends, the mood quickly turned from confidence to uncertainty as a large number of unanswered questions began to emerge in the midst of other, more obvious trivia questions.

“Governor Sarah Palin said famously that the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull is what?”

“ER is in its final season this year. What are the names of the two main character love interests on the show?”

“Who played shortstop in Charles M. Schulz’s comic strip Peanuts?”

By combining knowledge and using each member’s area of expertise, however, the team was able to make a momentary gain before falling to last place at the end of the final round.

Their consolation prize? Pouches of ramen, fitting for a team composed entirely of college students.

“It’s okay, we meant to play the bowl this way,” said Alvand Abdolsalehi, a junior broadcast journalism major at the University of Southern California and a recipient of an AAJA Los Angeles Chapter scholarship. “The economy’s horrible right now, so we knew we’d need food – our best bet was to lose. And we did it!”

Likewise, the winners from the Immigrant Law Offices of Fong & Chun and Stuart Folinsky celebrated their first place win.

“The Trivia Bowl is always a fun night, and we’re so glad we can support the association in some way,” said J. Fong, a partner in the firm. “I still remember back in the day up in San Francisco when Wendy Takata was the only big Asian American name out there in the journalism world. Now, there’s definitely a shift in the scene, and I think organizations like this one have helped to make that huge difference.”

For other participants of the Trivia Bowl, the impact of the event hit home in a different way.

“We really get a sense of camaraderie here,” said John Dalsass, a second-year coach for the El Camino High School team. “We like to come to this competition year after year because it really does help to structure some form of bonding, both within our team and with the professional journalists.”

Michelle Woo, an incoming AAJA board member and managing editor for KoreAm Journal and judge at the Trivia Bowl, similarly praised AAJA for its continued work to bring together the journalism community.

“If you look around the room, there’s not just journalists and there’s not just APAs here. I really think the Trivia Bowl brings together so many people from the community, and it’s always cool to see the different sides of journalists that you might not get to see otherwise,” Woo said. “Asian Americans in the media are extremely important because they bring about a new perspective, and can possibly tell stories that might go untold otherwise. It’s great to see so much support for an organization that wants to bring about that kind of change.”

How did your team do at Trivia Bowl XIV? Test your trivia knowledge again with this year’s questions:

ROUND 1: Current Events

1. According to GOP vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, what’s the difference between a pitbull and a hockey mom?

Lipstick

2. This former Saturday Night Live star has returned to the show to showcase her spot-on Palin impersonation. Who is she?

Tina Fey

3. One day after letting investment banking firm Lehman Brothers fail, the federal government stepped in to bailout this giant insurance company. Name it.

AIG (American International Group)

4. To avert a deeper financial crisis, the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury proposed a $700 billion bailout plan. Name the Secretary of the Treasury.

Henry Paulson

5. In September, the fifth hurricane of 2008 came ashore at Galveston, Texas. Name the hurricane.

Hurricane Ike

6. Earlier this week, a wildfire broke out in the Porter Ranch neighborhood of the Valley, then briefly moved over the Ventura County line into Simi Valley. What was the name of this fire?

Sesnon Fire

7. On Wednesday, the presidential candidates held their third and final debate at a university on Long Island. Name the University.

Hofstra University

8. Earlier this week, Joe Wurzelbacher, a.k.a., “Joe the Plumber”, found himself at the center of the American presidential campaign. What Ohio city is Joe the Plumber from?

Toledo (Holland, Ohio acceptable)

9. Last week, three scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery and development of green fluorescent protein, or GFP. What animal was GFP first found in?

Jellyfish (also acceptable, more specific answers of: crystal jelly, Aequorea Victoria or Aequorea aquorea)

10. Name the New York rapper who opened the revamped Hollywood Palladium on Wednesday.

Jay-Z

11. On Thursday, the famed Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise ship made its 710th and final stop in New York City. This ship will be turned into a floating hotel in what Middle Eastern City?

Dubai

12. On May 12 of this year, a great earthquake hit China. Name the province in which this earthquake was centered.

Sichuan province (or Szechwan province)

13. In May, a tropical cyclone from the North Indian Ocean hit the country of Myanmar. What was this cyclone’s name?

Nargis

14. In September, a Ukrainian cargo ship en route to Kenya with weapons was captured by pirates off the coast of Somalia. What is the name of the ship?

MV Faina

15. In August, the 2008 Olympics opened in Beijing. What four-word phrase was the official slogan of the Beijing Olympics?

One World, One Dream.

16. Meteoroid 2008 TC3 was discovered by the Catalina Sky survey and tracked until it exploded in Earth’s atmosphere. What country did this asteroid explode over?

Sudan

17. The Obama presidential campaign has received much attention for the familiar slogan “Change w e can believe in.” The font used in these campaign signs was designed by the typography firm H&FJ, and was inspired by lettering found throughout New York City buildings. What is the name of this font?

Gotham

18. On September 29, only one company on the S&P 500 stock market index saw its stock price rise as 499 others fell. Name this well-known company.

Campbell’s Soup Company

19 Although Sarah Palin is known for her time in Wasila, Alaska, name the city and state in which Palin was actually born.

Sandpoint, Idaho

20. This season marks the 15th and last for NBC medical drama ER. Actors George Clooney and Julianna Margulies embodied the main romantic plotline of the show’s first few years. What were the names of their characters?

Doug Ross and Carol Hathaway

ROUND 2: History and Geography

1. With $40 billion in assets in 1984, this bank was at that time the largest to fail in U.S. history. Name it.

Continental Illinois National Bank

2. Presidential candidate John McCain was shot down in October 1967 while flying a mission in the Vietnam War. Name the fighter jet that he was flying at the time.

A Douglas A-4 Skyhawk (A4 and Skyhawk acceptable)

3. In 1930, a new law raised U.S. tariffs on tens of thousands of imported goods to record levels. Name the two U.S. senators who pushed for this notable tariff act.

Reed Smoot (of Utah) and Willis C. Hawley (of Oregon)

4. What is the three-word phrase, meaning “passing the point of no return,” that is associated with Julius Caesar crossing a river in Italy in 49 B.C. to start a civil war?

Crossing the Rubicon

5. One of the world’s most celebrated prehistoric monuments is located at approximately 51 degrees North, 1 degree West. Name it.

Stonehenge

6. Following the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, this gigantic landfill was temporarily reopened to accept debris from Ground Zero. Name the landfill and the New York City borough in which it’s located.

Fresh Kills Landfill. Staten Island

7. What historical figure founded the religion Sikhism in India in the 1500s?

Guru Nanak Dev

8. In Greek mythology, what is the name of three-headed hound that guards the gates of Hades?

Cerebus

9. What is the month, date and year in which Elvis Presley died?

August 16, 1977

10. What was the United States’ first national park?
Yellowstone National Park

11. At London’s famous Piccadilly Circus, what global electronics brand has an LED advertising sign directly beneath the TDK sign, and directly above the Gap store?
Sanyo

12. What city and state does retail giant Wal-Mart call home?

Bentonville, Arkansas

13. What is the fourth largest city in the United States by population?

Houston

14. This gigantic volcanic caldera in Tanzania is famous for being the enclosed home to many large species of mammals. Name it.

Ngorongoro Crater

15. What Spanish city holds the world famous event called the “Running of the Bulls”?

Pamplona

16. Who is the president of the Republic of Georgia?

Mikhail Saakashvili

17. According to maritime tradition, sailors who are known as Shellbacks have already accomplished this, while sailors known as Pollywogs have not. What exactly is it that these sailors have or have not done?

Cross the equator (known as Crossing the Line)

18. What U.S. city is known as the “Biggest Little City in the World”?

Reno, Nevada

19. What is the name of the narrow strait that connects the Aegean Sea to the inland Sea of Marmara?

The Dardanelles

20. Finally, please look the envelopes you’ve just been handed.

Please name the Southern California location of the structure in this aerial photo.

LAX Theme Building (Encounter, Los Angeles International Airport also acceptable)

ROUND 3: Arts & Entertainment

1. Name the four actresses who star in the movie franchise “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.”

Blake Lively, America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, and Alexis Bledel

2. What are the first names of the three Jonas Brothers of Disney Channel fame?

Kevin, Joe, and Nick

3. Indian brothers Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla developed this now defunct word game application for the social networking site Facebook. Name it.

Scrabulous

4. What is the name of the graphic artist who heads the company Obey and was responsible for the notable posters of presidential candidate Barack Obama that featured the phrase Hope?
Shepard Fairey

5. In 1987, Michael Douglas won an Academy Award for best actor playing an iconic character. Name that character.

Gordon Gekko

6. The AMC drama Mad Men is set at an ad agency in 1960s New York City. Name the fictional ad agency.

Sterling Cooper

7. In the episode of the sitcom Friends where Monica and Rachel lose their apartment to Joey and Chandler in a trivia contest, Rachel claims her favorite movie is Dangerous Liaisons but she truly favors a different movie. Name Rachel’s actual favorite movie.

Weekend at Bernie’s

8. What city stood in for Gotham City in this summer’s blockbuster the Dark Knight?

Chicago

9. What is the stage name for British musician Mathangi Arulpragasam?

M.I.A.

10. To symbolize their unity, Jay-Z and Beyonce got matching tattoos on their ring fingers. What is the tattoo of?

The Roman numeral IV

11. Last month, a famous European landmark and tourist destination became the site 17 sculptures created by American artist Jeff Koons. Name the destination.

Chateau de Versailles.

12. Until his death earlier this year, Paul Newman lived in what Connecticut town?

Westport, Connecticut

13. The theme song for the cartoon series Ducktales starts with the line “Life is like a hurricane.” What is the next line in the song?

“Here in Duckburg”

14. The video game Guitar Hero features five colored markers traveling down a guitar fret. Name the marker’s color that is on the very left of the Guitar Hero screen.

Green.

15. The In Memoriam segment at the 2008 Emmy awards program featured this comedian twice, once at the beginning and then again at the very end. Name him.

George Carlin

16. A few weeks ago, a celebrity contestant on Dancing with the Stars had to pull out after injuring her Achilles heel. Name her.

Misty May-Treanor

17. Next year, Gustavo Dudamel will become the music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Dudamel is a product of his country’s national music program. What country is he from?
Venezuela

18. Earlier this year, the CW network received criticism for an ad campaign for its TV series Gossip Girl. The racy ads were accompanied by a four-letter acronym. What is this acronym?

OMFG

19. The Getty Villa in Malibu is modeled after an ancient Roman town. Name the town.

Herculaneum

20. After a controversy over his resume, the Food Network did not renew the contract of chef Robert Irvine as host of the program, “Dinner: Impossible.” Who is the new chef host of “Dinner: Impossible?”
Michael Sy

ROUND 4:
Science & Literature

1. What is the name of the world’s largest high-energy particle accelerator that the European Organization for Nuclear Research opened in September?
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC acceptable)

2. Name the animal phylum of invertebrates that includes snails, cuttlefish and squids.

Mollusca or Molluscs

3. In September the Zoological Society of London announced that it had photographed a mammal known as Africa’s Unicorn, an animal that had been thought to be extinct in the wild for decades. What is the name of this animal?

The okapi. Or Okapia johnstoni

4. In September, UCLA researchers revealed the largest Prime number ever recorded, one that is defined by the formula 2P-1, where P is also a prime number. What 17^th Century French mathematician was this type of prime named in honor of?

Marin Mersenne

5. The period from roughly 1645 to 1715 was defined by an exceedingly low number of sunspots on the sun and coincided with lower global temperatures. Name this period of time.

The Maunder Minimum

6. What is the name of the U.S. scientific research station located on Ross Island in Antarctica?
McMurdo Station

7. What is the name of the deep sea submersible used by Robert Ballard to explore the wreck of the Titanic?
DSV Alvin (Alvin okay)

8. This atoll in the Marshall Islands was used in U.S. nuclear weapons testing during the Cold War, and most notably was used in the test of Ivy Mike, the first hydrogen bomb, in 1952.

Enewetak (or Eniwetok)

9. Name the Scottish Geologist considered to be the father of modern geology.

James Hutton

10. In 2007, a federal judge imposed limits on water pumping at a pumping plant in Livermore, California, to protect a slender-bodied fish native only the Sacramento-San Joaquin Estuary. Name this fish.

The Delta Smelt

11. John Grogan’s best-selling book “Marley and Me” chronicled the 13-year relationship between Grogan, his family and their dog Marley. What specific breed of dog is Marley?
A Labrador Retriever (Also acceptable, Labrador, Labby or Lab) Retriever not acceptable.

12. Harold the dog, Chester the cat and the Monroe Family all made their debut in what notable children’s book by author James Howe?

Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Mystery

13. What is the name of the fictional town inhabited by Huckle Cat, Lowly Worm and other anthropomorphic characters created by children’s author and illustrator Richard Scarry?

Busytown

14. The acclaimed author of the 1996 novel Infinite Jest took his own life in September. What was his name?

David Foster Wallace

15. In the comic strip Peanuts, who plays catcher on Charlie Brown’s baseball team?
Schroeder

16. The novel “Secret Life of Bees” by author Sue Monk Kidd is set in what southern state?
South Carolina

17. Name the author of “The Outsiders” and “Rumble Fish,” two novels adapted into films by director Francis Ford Coppola in the 1980s.

S.E. Hinton (Susan Eloise Hinton)

18. What is the name of the 2003 novel by Audrey Niffenegger, in which one of the main characters suffers from a rare genetic disorder called Chrono-Displacement?

The Time Traveler’s Wife

19. Name the author whose recent bestsellers include “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” and “Dragon Bones.”

Lisa See

20. In the Dr. Seuss children’s classic “The Cat the Hat,” the title character is accompanied by two creatures. What are their names?
Thing One and Thing Two

ROUND 5:
Sports &
California Living

1. Name the two UCLA Bruin basketball players who were drafted in the first round of the 2008 NBA Draft.
Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook

2. Name the three teams the Los Angeles Lakers defeated on the way to the NBA Finals in order from the first round to the Western Conference Finals.
Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs

3. Michael Phelps won his second of eight swimming gold medals this summer as part of the 4×100 freestyle relay team. Name the man who swam the anchor leg for the US in this race.
Jason Lezak

4. Now, name the French swimming star who reportedly said France would “smash the Americans in the relay.”
Alain Bernard

5. Name the head coach of Duke University’s basketball team, who was also the head coach of the US men’s Olympic basketball team. Spelling Counts and no nicknames!
Mike Krzyzewski

6. Name the surgeon who pioneered the elbow repair procedure now named after former Dodger Tommy John.
Dr. Frank Jobe

7. Jamaica’s Usain Bolt set a new world record time in the 100m sprint at the Beijing Olympics. What was the time?
9.69 seconds

8. What university did Lakers broadcast analyst Stu Lantz attend?
Nebraska

9. Los Angeles Dodger manager Joe Torre helmed a different team last season. Name the team.
New York Yankees

10. Two U.S. women’s gymnasts won Olympic gold medals in Beijing. Name them.
Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin

11. Name the call signs Officers Jon Baker AND Frank Poncherello used when responding to incidents on their radios in the TV series ChiPs.
7-Mary-3 and 7-Mary-4

12. At the start of the song “I Love L.A.” by Randy Newman, what highway does Newman proclaim he is rolling down?
Imperial Highway

13. In the call-and-response section near the end “I Love L.A.” Three boulevards and one street are named, followed each time by the response “We Love It.” Name those three boulevards and one street IN THE ORDER they appear in the song.
Century; Victory; Santa Monica; and Sixth Street

14. Last month, the California Academy of Science in San Francisco opened a new building with a so-called “living roof” to house its natural history museum, planetarium and aquarium. What is the name of the park that this new building is located in?
Golden Gate Park

15. Name the architect who led the redesign of the California Academy of Science.
Renzo Piano

16. In October of last year, one Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame band who formed in L.A AND one mega-successful country trio from Texas were the debut performers for the new Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. Name these two bands.
The Eagles and the Dixie Chicks

17. The creator of the famed Bellagio dancing fountains built his latest creation in which California city?

San Pedro

18. Two California counties have the same letter of the alphabet in the first and last letter of their names. Name one of these counties.
Alameda or Stanislaus

19. Several times in the 19th and 20th Century, groups along the California/Oregon border have organized to propose seceding from both states to form their own new state. What was the most popular name of this proposed state?
The State of Jefferson

20. The 2008 Michelin Red Guide to Los Angeles awarded three restaurants the very prestigious rating of three stars. Name one of them.
Melisse, Spago or Urusawa