"MCLA’s location provided me with endless opportunities to gain professional experience in the arts. I had a lot of fun working as a tour guide at MASS MoCA and in the education department at the Berkshire Museum, which allowed me to figure out what kinds of jobs I would like and to meet a lot of interesting arts professionals along the way. MCLA’s small size helped me develop close working relationships with my favorite professors who always took time to advise me on academic and professional concerns. I really felt like they were with me all the way."
Monica Henry ’07 Education Coordinator, Clark Art Institute
News & Press Releases
May 2, 2008
NORTH ADAMS, MA – 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 .
