KaleidoQuiz 2010 is in the books. The 26-hour radio quiz show, put on by ISU’s student radio station, KURE, took place this weekend, and hopefully you had a chance to take part in the craziness.

KQ, embodies the spirit of college-ism. Trivia questions, read over the air every six minutes, range from ambiguous (What is rule #34), to ridiculous (What brand is the MU’s revolving door?) and almost always end in a frantic sprint, phone call, or google search to be made.

The rise of the Google search forced the questions to become increasingly  difficult, and the scope of the contest has expanded to include various competitions that extend far beyond simple trivia questions. One of thos other components, the traveling question, requires teams to send members to a far away place and visit certain locations while there. this year’s quest was in Minneapolis, and led contestants to a shady seafood restaurant.

Closer to home there was the scavenger hunt which included items like “someone dressed as Lady Gaga,” “mountain dew in an aluminum bottle” and a “self applying condom.”

Also featured this year were video challenges that had to be uploaded to YouTube by a certain time to count. A quick search for “KQ21010” yields all manner of craziness; maybe you’ll see someone you know making a fool of themselves.

To complete these challenges and still answer the trivia questions, many teams have upwards of 50 people, each doing a variety of tasks throughout the duration of the event.

A typical team headquareters has a projector, dozens of computers, endless caffeinated beverages, a radio, a whiteboard, and of course, exhausted college students.

Teams are often juggling so may things simultaneously, that regardless of any planning, things can get pretty frantic. In this way, KQ is a reflection of the both the same-ness and aver changing culture of Iowa State.

The first KQ, held in 1967, was popular enough to jam on-campus phone line. According to KQ’s website “it was almost impossible to place a call on campus the entire afternoon.”

Now, with the rise of cell-phones and the improved organization of the event, such inconveniences are rare. For this KURE deserves both a congratulations and a thank-you. They did a great job once again.

Some things never change. And KQ, hopefully, will be a source of  entertainment for years to come. The annual event coincides perfectly with the peak of cabin fever, and provides an opportunity for restless kids to run around, be crazy and stay up all night for something fun, isntead of something due.

Because inside, we’re all still kids. Wether you’re a freshman or a grad student, the opportunity to be stupid, for a  cause, is an increasingly rare happening That’s why KQ is so great: it isn’t about winning, it’s barely about competition it’s about fun.

Here the stupidity is channeled and embraced.

So, we call upon the youth of the world to convene one year from now in Ames, Iowa, to be stupid. If you want to make a music video in one take, or sit around and drink Rud Bull until dawn, then enjoy KQ while you can.

The answer, if you were wondering, Rule #34, states: “If it exists, there is a porn of it.”

That’s trivia worth knowing.