Last night, my wife and I went to a fund-raiser for our local elementary school. The school, called North Glendale, is everything a public school should be. It has great teachers, a fantastic principal, nice kids (mostly), and involved families. Each year, North Glendale hosts a trivia night, complete with silent auctions, and a few live auctions for bigger-ticket items. Parents form teams of eight in the gymnasium and try to answer the trivia questions as a team. Forty-eight teams competed this year. There were eight rounds of questions, with ten questions per round. This year, the theme was “nothing but the nineties.” All questions were based on events that occurred during that decade. Many parents came thematically attired (lots of grunge). One table had a Guns N’ Roses theme. My favorite was a table at which the husbands were dressed as Bill Clinton and the wives (I think they were the wives) all wore black wigs and blue dresses with a stain—pretty clever.
Here are the questions from one of the (easier) rounds. Let’s see how you do:
1. Ted Kaczynski, who terrorized victims for 18 years before being arrested in 1996, was better known by a nickname. What was the nickname?
2. What were the model and make of the vehicle that O. J. Simpson rode in during his 1994 police chase?
3. Famously debated by Al Gore and Ross Perot in 1993, what did NAFTA stand for?
4. What movie star did Jay Leno famously ask, in a 1995 interview, “What the hell were you thinking?”
5. In 1999, who was found floating on an inner tube off the coast of Florida on Thanksgiving Day?
6. In 1991, who received immunity from 19 counts of murder after he agreed to testify against mob boss John Gotti?
7. Name the Pentagon employee who secretly recorded her phone conversations with Monica Lewinsky.
8. What was the name of the rap group whose album, As Nasty As They Wanna Be, was declared obscene in 1990 by a federal judge?
9. What name was given to the Republican Party’s campaign promises in the 1994 congressional elections?
10. Who was the publisher of the political magazine George, which debuted in 1995?
Our team finished in the middle of the pack. The nineties were not my best decade for pop culture (medical school from 1990 to 1994, residency from 1994 to 1997, fellowship from 1997 to 2000). That decade is a blur. I made a few good contributions, but the emphasis here is on “a few.”
The event raised $71,000! For a public school! A highlight of the night was a tribute to the outgoing principal, Dr Todd Benben, retiring after 12 years in this role. He is an incredibly nice man who is also incredibly effective (these qualities are not mutually exclusive)—a perfect example of the difference great leadership can make. He received a five-minute standing ovation, no joke. He put his heart and soul into his job and made a huge difference for the kids, a genuine role model for demonstrating how one person can make a difference. Enjoy retirement, Dr Benben—you have earned it.
Until next month …
Brad S. Kahl, MD
Answers: 1. Unabomber; 2. Ford Bronco; 3. North American Free Trade Agreement; 4. Hugh Grant; 5. Elián González
6. Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano; 7. Linda Tripp; 8. 2 Live Crew; 9. Contract with America; 10. John F. Kennedy, Jr