A&M International CIS Students Compete in Programming Contest

12 Texas A&M International University students recently traveled to the Association of International Technology Professionals (AITP) -sponsored computer programming contest at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, MS.

A&M International students competed in C++, Access Database Design and Visual Basic against 27 colleges and universities, including Texas Tech University, Mississippi State University, Clemson University, Georgia Tech, Our Lady of the Lake University, and several well-known universities.

The largest competition, Visual Basic, pitted 51 teams against each other.

The A&M International Team of Karim Garza and Benjamin Everett earned First Place in Visual Basic. Garza and Everett are students of A&M International faculty members Dr. Bill Newman and Jesus Carmona.

Everett and Garza received a $500 check and a certificate from AITP. They will advance to the AITP Nationals Competition in Chicago in March.

Also participating in the competition and receiving certificates of competition participation were:

Visual Basic: Mary Mendez and Aladdin Hall, Edward Hernandez and Shawn Fazlurrehman and Andy Gonzalez and Liliana Lopez

C++: Karim Garza and Benjamin Everett, Andy Gonzalez and Liliana Lopez, Edward Hernandez and Mary Mendez, Rob Krochmal and Pedro Saenz

Access Database Design: Anissa Gonzales and Maribel Mata and Aladdin Hall.

A special plaque representing the students' accomplishments will be displayed in Pellegrino Hall, home to the College of Business Administration and Graduate School of International Trade and Business Administration.

The University's Computer Information Systems (CIS) major is one of the fastest-growing and most popular of student majors.

For additional information on the CIS program or courses, please contact Dr. Stephen Lunce, associate professor of information systems at 326.2502 or slunce@tamiu.edu

University office hours are from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Affairs and Information Services at pais@tamiu.edu