[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 68 (Thursday, May 23, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S4835]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  10-YEAR OLD FROM JENISON, MICHIGAN WINS THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC BEE

 Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, Calvin McCarter, a home-schooled 
student from Jenison, MI, a suburb of Grand Rapids, won the National 
Geographic Bee yesterday. At ten years old, Calvin became the youngest 
contender ever to win the competition. The grand prize was a lifetime 
subscription to National Geographic Magazine and a $25,000 college 
scholarship, which Calvin will not be able to use for a few years.
  In the final round, Calvin and Matthew Russell of Bradford, PA, were 
asked the same five questions. Before the final question, they were 
tied with one wrong answer. According to accounts of the competition, 
the final question posed to the competitors was which country uses Lop 
Nur, a marshy depression at the eastern end of the Tarim Basin, as a 
nuclear test site. Calvin correctly identified China, while Matthew 
identified France.
  According to National Geographic News, at the beginning of the 
competition, each contestant was given the opportunity to sit down and 
chat with host Alex Trebek. Calvin talked about his stamp-collecting 
hobby. His favorite is a Cold War stamp from the former Soviet Republic 
of Byelorussia, now the independent country of Belarus. His attention 
to detail and love for geography was evident, and is more clear now 
after his victory.
  I know my colleagues will join me in congratulating Calvin on this 
tremendous accomplishment and wishing him the best in all of his future 
endeavors. Congratulations, Calvin.

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