A: Kermin Fleming
Q: What Carnegie Mellon student has advanced to the Jeopardy College Championship finals?

Kermin Fleming is the second Carnegie Mellon student in the last three years to advance to the Jeopardy finals.

Carnegie Mellon junior electrical and computer engineering major Kermin Fleming has taken another step closer to winning the $100,000 grand prize as the 2004 Jeopardy College Champion.

After the first round of the two-day finals held last night (Nov. 22), Fleming leads contestants from Dickinson College and Williams College by about $11,000. The second round of the finals will air tonight at 7 p.m. on NBC-TV.

Fleming earned a spot in the show's annual college tournament in tryouts at Carnegie Mellon on Sept. 29. The tournament was taped at the University of Pittsburgh's Petersen Events Center last month, but Fleming signed an agreement with Jeopardy that prevents him from revealing and discussing the results until the tournament broadcast is completed on Nov. 23.

The tournament began with 15 college students representing schools from across the country. Before the tournament broadcast began on Nov. 10, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Rob Owen called Fleming a "Jeopardy player to keep your eye on."

Fleming, from Lexington, Ky., is the second Carnegie Mellon student to make it to the Jeopardy college tournament finals in the last three years. Jara Dorsey, a voice performance major who graduated in 2003, advanced to the final round in 2002.

The champion earns $100,000, while the runner-up receives $50,000. The third-place contestant earns $25,000.

For more on the Jeopardy College Championships visit http://www.jeopardy.com.

Bruce Gerson