Contact: Bob Ratliff
One of two Mississippi State University teams entered in a recent regional computer programming competition finished in the event's top 15.
Team Maroon was 12th among 77 entries taking part in the 2001 Association for Computing Machinery Regional Programming Contest at the Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville.
Its sister group, Team White, finished in 29th place among the Southeastern universities and colleges.
Of the Southeastern Conference universities entered in this year's competition, MSU--as it has for the past two years--had the highest final score. Other SEC teams came from Auburn University and the universities of Alabama, Florida and Georgia.
Overall first-place honors went to the University of Central Florida, with the Florida and Georgia institutes of technology taking second and third, respectively.
The Association for Computing Machinery and IBM Corp. annually sponsor the test of collegiate programming problem solving.
"The competition is an opportunity to recognize students who excel in computer programming," said Donna S. Reese, associate professor of computer science and the MSU team coach. "These teams represent the 'cream of the crop' at schools in the Southeast."
The MSU representatives this year include (by hometown):
COLUMBUS--Team Maroon member Donald Goodman, a graduate student in cognitive science, the son of Dr. and Mrs. Donald E. Goodman and a 1998 graduate of the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science.
HOUSTON--Team White member Joseph R. Langley, a junior computer science major, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Randy Langley and a 1999 graduate of the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science in Columbus.
STARKVILLE--Team Maroon member Davis Herring, a junior computer science and physics major, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Herring and a 2000 Starkville High School graduate; and Team White member Vinoad "Vinny" Senguttuvan, a computational engineering graduate student [parents and high school not listed].
TUPELO--Team Maroon member Torey E. Alford, a senior computer science major and the son of Mr. and Mrs. James E. Alford, and Team White member Greg T. Grimes, a sophomore computer science major and the son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas W. Grimes. Both are 1994 Tupelo High School graduates.