BSU Academic Teams Match Wits at Honda Challenge
By Bekah Oester Bowie State University's top two academic teams competed in the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge Dec. 2 in the Center of Learning and Technology. The two teams, "Lovely Bunch of Coconuts" and "Beauty and the Geeks" were the highest scoring teams among many who competed earlier in the semester. The challenge was a "best 2 out of 3" match which was won in the first two games by "Beauty and the Geeks" with final scores of 175-110 and 125-70. This is the 10th year that BSU has participated in the HCASC. A selected team will continue to train in the upcoming months in hopes of a chance to represent BSU at the national tournament in Orlando. The HCASC is a battle of the brains specifically for America's Historically Black Colleges and Universities where teams must answer various academic questions. A team with a correct answer is eligible to earn bonus points by answering a further set of questions. According to the HCASC website, campus play is open to all 4-year, degree-granting HBCUs in the continental U.S. So far, over 50,000 students have competed in the program. Each year, 64 schools qualify to attend the National Championship Tournament. This year marks 20 years for the competition's existence. | 
Speaking little English, Ji-Wu Jia came to the United States with his wife and son in 1989 from Beijing, China, a society that is much more open to the world now than years ago. Home to the 2008 Olympics, Beijing is also where Jia received a bachelor’s degree in computer programming from Beijing College of Economics.
Before transitioning into the classroom, Haynes was a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times, Ebony, and the Providence Journal-Bulletin. She has two decades of experience as a newspaper reporter, magazine writer, essayist, book reviewer, copy editor, news editor, photo editor, and page designer.
Author Lisa Smith graduated in 1980 from Bowie State University with a bachelor's degree in journalism. 
