L to R: Professor Marty Smith and students Perrin Westrich, Jonathan Gorday and Ryan Dowell. (Photo by Claudia Burris)

Computer science students Jonathan Gorday, Perrin Westrich and Ryan Dowell placed 14th out of 124 teams in the programming challenge held at Webster and run by site director Marty Smith. The trio beat out rivals from Washington University, St. Louis University, Principia, UM-Rolla, University of Missouri-Columbia, SIU-Edwardsville and SIU-Carbondale.

Gorday, a senior computer science and math major, credits Webster with helping him prepare for the competition. “The computer science classes required the actual creation of code instead of the adaptation of code from other sources," he said. "And the mathematics professors were good about not only explaining what to do, but also why it's done that way and how it does it that way.”

The Association for Computing Machinery competition is the oldest, largest and most prestigious programming contest in the world. Each year, thousands of students from more than 1,700 universities around the globe compete. Teams must solve a semester’s worth of computer programming problems in only five hours. They risk receiving a 20-minute penalty for any wrong answers. Webster’s team, coached by Professors J.P. Wang and Peter Maher, solved 6 of the 7 questions correctly with time to spare.

SIFE Team Wins Second Runner-Up at Nationals

National SIFE Winners: (L to R) Front row: Stephanie Lange and Cecelia Liu. Second row: Dr. Akande, Debbie Psihountas, Nakesia Hardy and Mario Santander. Third row: Gina Runde, Tim Jackson, Dr. Richard Meyers, Webster University President, and Marc Pusateri. (Photo by Karen Burch)

Meanwhile, solving community problems with their business savvy helped the 2007 Webster University SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) team win second runner-up in their league at Nationals.  Each year Webster’s 4-year old team has placed high enough at regionals to advance to the coveted competition.  But this is the first time Webster’s SIFE students have placed in that national contest.

“I'm proud and honored to be affiliated with such a great group of students,” says club sponsor, finance professor Debbie Psihountas.

SIFE is open to all students studying any major. The club creates and then conducts community outreach projects that teach market economics, entrepreneurship, personal and financial success skills and business ethics. SIFE teams from around the world then present their projects at the competition. They are judged on creativity, innovation and effectiveness.

“I find it important to participate in organizations that rely on teamwork and focus on bettering the world around us,” said Nakesia Hardy, an accounting major and SIFE member. “SIFE is one of those organizations. It is a tremendous privilege to be a part of an organization that not only educates people about business, but also equips people with life skills.”

“I have developed leadership skills and time-management skills,” said SIFE member Gina Runde, a sophomore accounting major. “I have seen first-hand what SIFE can do for a person's career.”

In addition to Hardy and Runde, this year's team included:
Tim Jackson, Stephanie Lange, Cecelia Liu, Mario Santander and Marc Pusateri.

SIFE vice president Tim Jackson wrote the team's winning script. “SIFE is a great opportunity to network with many major companies,” he said. “It is also an organization that helps you improve your professional skills no matter what your major is.”

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