European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 31, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday March 31 2007 stars and stripes Pace 3 far East Drill meet to test a Roth cadets by Vince Little stars and stripes Yokota air base Japan for the second straight year Yokota High school is hosting the annual far East Junior Reserve officers training corps Drill meet twelve programs and 165 Ca dets representing All four service branches across the Pacific will test marksmanship Drill proficiency and physical fitness in the three Day Competition scheduled to begin monday the Field includes Osan Ameri can Seoul american and Taegu american from South Korea Kadena and Kubasak out of Oki Nawa Japan based Kinnick e j King Zama american my Perry and Robert d Edgren and Guam High Lokotas army Roth program was last years Overall Champion Large and Small schools com Pete under the same umbrella a departure from most department of defense dependents school sanctioned athletic events unlike one of the sports Type far East events this is a on shot Deal said retired army it col Robert Mateer the senior instructor at Yokota the teams see no competitors during the year so no one really knows How Good the others Are until this meet a significant change this year is the elimination of an Overall Champion he added instead there will be team trophies awarded in three categories physical fit Ness Drill and shooting officials also adopted weighted scoring for the various Drill sets All drills Are not equal so weighting will make scoring a Little More equitable Mateer said the changes to scoring and elimination of an Overall Champi on will make it very difficult to capture the top place in All three categories however this will allow three schools to have brag Ging rights about far East on monday All units except the air Force will engage in air Rifle and pistol shooting the after noon features fun challenges such As a Golf shootout modified biathlon Speed shooting and a shoot the Hole in the life Saver event a uniform inspection kicks off Day 2 starting at 9 am the Ca dets get an Opportunity to show Cas their marching abilities regulation armed and unarmed Drill takes place in the Yokota High school gym while color guard and freestyle exhibition Are set to unfold in the Middle school gym the competitions run until about pm and spectators Are Wel come on wednesday the schools clash in physical activities rang ing from pushups pull ups and setups to a crab relay 13team Tugo War and math relay on the High school track in that event runners must dash a Quarter mile and then answer four math prob lems without assistance from any mechanical devices fifty trophies and More than 300 medals and certificates will be handed out wednesday evening during an awards Din Ingin at the Yokota officers club email Vince Little at got what it takes to answer with a question Trebek jeopardy Crew hit Pacific bases looking for some contestants by Allison Batdorff stars and stripes Yokosuka naval base Japan when Alex Trebek Host of one of the worlds most popular trivia shows gives you test advice you take it you have to be wellhead and up on whats happen ing in the world Trebek said thursday at Yokosuka naval base As hundreds of people lined up to take a crack at being a contestant on i always Tell people that the hardest category on jeopardy is the one you dont know Trebek along with other show staff and forces entertainment were scouting for players and showing support at bases in Japan and on Okinawa this week this is trebets 12th Uso tour beyond making tryouts convenient for military and their families living abroad Trebek feels strongly that the troops  be forgotten in peace or War time he said fun games and autograph sessions were held for Ca sual viewers and those who want to compete take a 10question pretest which determines whether they can take the 50question final test those who pass the final test can be considered As an actual television con Testant theres no harm in taking the pretest Trebek said after All the Titan of trivia took the pretests him self for 16 years before Job Security caught up with him he said i passed them All Trebek said but then i stopped taking them when i realized i got the Job i dont have to worry Trebek 67 has hosted jeopardy for 23 years the show touts itself As the most difficult game show on television and has 32 million viewers according to the jeopardy web site More than 200 people took the jeopardy pretest at naval air facility Katsugi on wednesday forty peo ple went on to take the 50question final test which five passed according to Donna St John Uso vice president of communications at Yokosuka on thursday prospective military and civilian contestants lined up at club Alliance corrections a March 29 article on air Force readiness should have said that air Force Gen Bruce Carl son commander air Force Materiel command said that air Force readiness is Down by 17 per cent since 2001 a March 29 article should have stated the equipment draw exercise at Camp Carroll was last conducted three years ago and that the army Field support battalion Jorth East Asia operates the warehouses Allison and stripes Sydney Mcdonald May be Only 22 months old but she already knows the jeopardy theme song she recognized Host Alex Trebek on thursday when he came to Yokosuka naval base to scout contestants and to meet military members and their families i just wanted to see if i could compete said Petty officer 2nd class Jeff Benimino i didst expect to see a poetry question i love jeopardy so i thought id Check it out and see what happens said Navy spouse Laurie cudding ton who made it to the next round the pretest was harder than she thought but she would take the final test she said the two hour final test can be More difficult than doing the show Trebek said the final test has 50 categories versus 13 on the show if you pass the test then you have a fairly Broad base of knowledge he said but Many just came to see Trebek who has become an american television icon Trebek signed Auto graphs including on a pair of held babies and donned Ball Caps for those who came to meet and have their picture taken with him  Sydney Mcdonald recon ni2ed Trebek As she has been a jeopardy fan since she was 15 months old said her Mother Tammy the toddler Likely is a future contender she said Sydney goes right to the television when its jeopardy time and sings the theme song Tammy said i guess there Are worse things to watch than historical trivia email Allison Batdorff at legendary Host giving the answers As usual jeopardy Host Alex Trebek took some time out of his thurs Day morning for a Panda in Yokosuka club Alliance q what is the dumbest an youve Ever gotten from a contestant a i have no idea weve done Over 5000 shows and at my age i have difficulty remembering last tuesday there have been some silly ones though and a few by celebrities who i wont mention by name we get a lot of Brilliant an Swers but there Are times when people just blow it we All can do that under pres sure q military or civilians who seems smarter Overall in try outs a that ques Tion is unfair civilians on Mili tary bases who try out Are usually very Bright and College Edu rated versus the preponderance of enlisted personnel who Arent Colleg educated and missed out on that Block of knowledge civil ians do better in that Case but once you get up into the officer ranks its a different Story q people say americans Are getting dumber any evidence of that in your screenings of Contes Tants Over the years a i dont think people Are get Ting dumber i think there get Ting smarter but they Are also getting Lazier people want their in formation spoonfed and would rather research something on the internet rather than open a Book for most people Reading is a lost pleasure q what do you think about the saturday night live jeopardy parody have you Ever met will Ferrell a i love the parodies Ive met Ferrell a few times he was a guest Host and we have a Good time people think that i should be insulted or ticked off when were i dont Are getting dumber i think there getting smarter but they Are also getting Lazier f 1 Alex Trebek jeopardy Host made fun of but it just tells me weve arrived in americana our theme music is played at sports events everyone knows can you phrase that in the form of a ques Tion people know who we Are and its Nice to be a part of Ameri Cas cultural scene q who was your most Memora ble contestant and Why a Ken Jennings he was with me for three and a half months he was the first player to win Over 74 shows in a Row i dont think Well Ever see a player like that again he was the perfect con Testant smiling Good natured and smart i shed a tear when he finally lost q what is the most unusual Way youve heard of a con Testant preparing a former contestant Bob Harris recently came out with a Book prisoner of Trebek Stan that outlines his Way of preparing he had several theories As to How the patterns emerged its fascinating to see How one individual can prepare he was a Little obsessive but he won Over q whats the wackiest category in jeopardy a one of our writers on the show who passed away a couple of years ago created the category Wood then there was son of Wood then More Wood it was silliness but it was wonderful and a lot of fun our writers Are extremely Clever and creative peo ple another one Lucy you got some spleen ing to do was All about the spleen q whats your favorite game show besides of a i used to like Hollywood squares in fact two of their former writers Are now producers on our show Batdorff