July 2000

Pokemon trivia scrambles egg-droppers' brains

No egg on his face: Brian Bevirt acquitted himself eleggantly as MC for the drop.

This rare peek into the secret lair of the egg-drop launchers atop ML's A tower finds (left to right) Dennis Ward (COMET), Jeff Weber (Unidata), Norma Beasant (HR), and Tim Barnes (ETP) readying several creations for launch.

Bringing eggs to Mars: Jeff Weber and Dennis Ward send "Sojournegg" on its maiden voyage. The craft landed wheels down (although one set of wheels collapsed) with cargo intact.

These contestants seem ready to crack under the strain as they await their entry's freefall.

"How does Slowpoke evolve?" If you could answer that question, you had dibs on a Pokemon T-shirt. These and other queries based on the popular kids' TV show peppered the crowd at the 14th annual egg drop competition, held at the mesa on 26 May. Originally a battle between UCAR/NCAR and Bixby School, the drop has eggspanded in recent years to include students from a number of other local schools: Community Montessori, Friends School, Lafayette and Flatirons Elementary, Bridge School, and West Jefferson Elementary (Conifer).

As with the Spring Fling earlier in May, the weather wasn't for the soft-boiled. Jackets, sweaters, and gritted teeth were the order of the day, as low clouds hung over the mesa and temperatures hovered in the mid-60s. Gusty northwest winds prompted emcee Brian Bevirt (SCD) to express concern over parachute-borne entries, but most of the chutes opened and functioned well. There were plenty of resounding splats, but as the crowd discovered, the sound of landing isn't a reliable predictor of egg survival. Judges Chris Knoetgen (Traffic Services) and Dana Knoetgen (ATD) had the final word, and they elicited groans or cheers with each verdict. The majority of adult and student participants did well, though as usual the kids triumphed. Their success rate was 79% vs. 60% for UCAR/NCAR.

The overall award for Most Eggscellent adult entry went to an invited guest, Chris Miksovsky. The CU engineering student was a refugee from his department's own egg-drop competition, says Rene Munoz, egganizer of the annual UCAR/NCAR drop. "Chris asked to enter our contest when he saw the entries on display in our lobby, because he told me that when CU had its annual contest, 'the atmospheric conditions weren't right.' He needed another chance to launch his entry, and we were happy to give it to him." Chris's entry spun propeller-like to the ground and deposited its cargo safely.

According to Rene, "This may be the beginning of a trend. Who knows what may happen when the CU engineers learn that our theme for next year will be 2001: A Space Oddeggsy?" Watch out, Stanley Kubregg.

• Zhenya Gallon and Bob Henson