In an attempt to get students thinking about something other than the stress of upcoming finals, The Nicholls Worth quizzed 15 random students on campus with 10 trivia questions regarding the University, the planet we live on and world history. Sounds simple, right? Think again. Here are the questions:

1. Why is our school named Nicholls State University?

2. Who is this man? (The student was shown a picture of University President Stephen Hulbert.)

3. How many colleges are there on Nicholls’ campus?

4. Who is the president of the Student Government Association?

5. How many oceans are there?

6. How many planets are there in our solar system?

7. What is the largest U.S. state?

8. How long did the Hundred Years War last?

9. What country was the Berlin Wall in?

10. How many battles were there in the Cold War?

1. Six students were correct in saying that Nicholls State University was named after Francis T. Nicholls, a Civil War general and former governor of Louisiana. Eight students said they had no idea, and one student insisted that the school was named after a battle in the Civil War called “The Battle of Nicholls.”

2. Eight students were correct in identifying the man in the picture as University President Stephen Hulbert. Five people answered with, “I have no idea.” One student said, “I don’t know who that is, but I do know who Dr. Dial (Eugene Dial, vice president of academic affairs) is.” Another student identified the man in the picture as Rush Limbaugh. He was serious. Sorry, Dr. Hulbert.

3. Not one student was correct in saying that there are five colleges at Nicholls State University-mainly because they identified the John Folse Culinary Institute as a college of its own, when it is actually a part of University College. Most students said that there are six colleges on campus, and one student said that there are eight. Close, but no cigar.

4. When asked who the SGA president is on this campus, only four students were correct in saying John Lombardo. Most students had no idea; one student said, “Some girl, I think;” and one student said, “does ‘I don’t care’ count as an answer?”

5. Despite popular belief that there are four oceans on our planet, there are actually five. The “newest” ocean is the Southern (Antarctic) Ocean. The International Hydrographic Organization set the boundaries of this ocean in 2000. Not one student got this question correct, and to be honest, neither did I.

6. Twelve students were correct in saying that there are now eight planets in our solar system. The two students that said there are nine planets were incorrect because in 2006, the International Astronomical Union declared Pluto a “dwarf planet,” meaning it did not fit the definition of a major planet such as Earth, Saturn and Jupiter. One student said that there are twelve planets.

7. Thirteen students were correct by identifying Alaska as the largest U.S. state. One student said that it was Texas, another said it was California, and one student actually answered with, “the United States.”

8. This was probably the trickiest question of them all-so tricky that even I had to Google the answer. Believe it or not, the “Hundred Years War” actually lasted 116 years. It was a series of conflicts between France and England that began in 1337 and ended in 1453. One student actually got this answer right, while most students said it lasted 100 years, and another student said 143.

9. Thirteen students were able to identify Germany as the Berlin Wall’s country of origin. One student gets partial credit for saying it was in Berlin, and one student actually answered with, “China. That’s a country, right?” Swing and a miss.

10. The Cold War was not a war where soldiers fought in battles, but rather a war of ideology between the United States and the Soviet Union. Ten students were correct in saying that the number of battles in the Cold War was zero, while four students said they had no idea, and one student said that there were four.

Now let us all join together in putting our palms to our faces.