MCLA To Hold Computer Programming Contest - May 02, 2008
NORTH ADAMS – Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) will hold the 24th annual high school computer programming contest on Thursday, May 15, starting at 8 a.m. in Murdock Hall.
This year’s contest, “The Casino at Upsilon Andromedae A,” is free and open to high school students. It is set in a casino on a space station. Each team will be given 150 “tibs,” or currency, to start with. When they have a solution to submit, they also may place a bet. “‘Frankie the Snitch,’ played by MCLA student Chris Field, will be around to sell contestants ‘illegal’ sample data,” said Mike Dalton, professor of computer science at MCLA.
Students will be grouped into teams and given several problems to solve. “First place goes to the team who solves the most in the shortest amount of time,” Dalton said. “There is also a second place trophy, and a rookie award that goes to a team consisting of members who have all had only one year of programming. Everyone gets a T-shirt and a free lunch.”
Last year’s teams included those from Pittsfield, Lee and New Lebanon, N.Y. For more information, contact Dalton at mike.dalton@mcla.edu, or Bill Spezeski at w.spezeski@mcla.edu. |