For one UA student, last week's holiday weekend was a prosperous one spent in a Hollywood hot seat bidding his way to a huge prize package on one of America's most beloved game shows.

Frank Camp, a media arts senior, was one of 20 members of the UA chapter of the Alpha Phi Omega coed service fraternity who made a trip to a taping at the "The Price is Right" studio in Burbank, Calif., over the Martin Luther King Day weekend.

The game show has been a staple of CBS' daytime lineup since its premier in 1972 and is now in its 31st season. The show, along with its ever-smiling host Bob Barker, has developed a multigenerational fan base ranging from housewives and retirees to college students like Camp, who has long been a fan of the show.

"Every summer, my brother and I used to rush home from swim practice and watch ("The Price is Right") daily," Camp said. "That's when I was 5, so I guess I've been watching it for a long time now."

This is the third trip the fraternity has made to the taping, and the first one for Camp.

He and the other students stayed in a hotel across the street from the studio, Camp said, and spent the preceding night ironing "We're Wild about Price Is Right/Theta Iota Loves Bob Barker" onto T-shirts, a long tradition for the show's hopeful contestants.

"We had a large group, so we were able to request guaranteed tickets, so we didn't have to wait (for tickets)" Camp said. "Some people had been waiting there (for standby tickets) since 9 the night before."

After hours of waiting and a short group interview, the students were seated near the front of the studio. They were stunned when Camp's name was called moments later as the last of the four starting contestants.

"We all went crazy when they called him," said Rachael Manahan, an education senior and Alpha Phi Omega member who also went to the taping. "Nobody knew what to do. We were in the front row, so he didn't have far to go, but he got to run down contestant's row."

Camp was the show's first winner, after bidding closest on a laptop. The next thing he knew, Camp was whisked onstage to play a pricing game called "Most Expensive."

Camp was shown three prizes: a desk, a flat screen TV and a pair of electric banjos, and asked to guess which prize cost the most. Like most contestants, Camp turned to his friends in the audience.

"We both know sign language, so I tried to find out what we thought he should guess and sign it to him," said Manahan, who is also Camp's girlfriend. "But we were wrong. We told him to pick the desk."

(Bob Barker) had asked me what school I was from, and later he said I was from Arizona State. I had to jump up and correct him. Frank Camp, media arts senior

But Camp went with his gut and picked the TV, which won him all three prizes.

"They escorted me offstage to the right (of the) front row that's reserved for the winners of the games, and they immediately had paperwork to fill out," Camp said. "They make sure to get you with all the waivers while you're still delirious from winning."

Camp then had to get past the infamous wheel.

Camp spun a respectable 80 cents on his first spin, but was tied by another contestant. They tied again on the spin-off, but Camp's good fortune continued after he finally won on his third spin.

"It was pretty tense," Camp said.

Camp was pitted against a nursing student from Loma Linda University for the showcase showdown and quickly passed on the first prize package.

He was then asked to bid on a package of three vacations: a four-night stay in Hawaii, six nights in Italy and a 12-day cruise of the Orient.

"It was weird because on the way to the taping I said that if I ever won I would want it to be trips," Camp said. "It's the kind of thing I would never think to get for myself."

Camp said he knew the other contestant overbid on her prize, so he coolly bid well under his showcase to walk away with winnings valued at $23,998.

"My parents have kindly offered to help me with the taxes," Camp said.

Camp is waiting to be contacted by the manufacturers and travel agency responsible for furnishing the prizes. Once contact is made, he will have only 18 months to redeem all three trips, which he said will work out perfectly because he will graduate in May.

But more than great prizes and fabulous trips, Camp said one of the biggest thrills of the whole experience was meeting Bob Barker.

"It was interesting to get to see him in person," Camp said. "He definitely wears a lot of makeup onstage. Nobody's skin could naturally be that orange."

Camp also got a kick out of having to correct the aging Emmy-winner about which school he was from.

"He had asked me what school I was from, and later he said I was from Arizona State," Camp said. "I had to jump and correct him on that."

Camp's episode of "The Price is Right" is scheduled to air Tuesday on CBS.