Crossroads - Spring 2011

is the number one u. S. consumer complaint, according to the federal trade Commission, and the number one white-collar crime. it is also one of the fastest growing crimes. Identity theft

of businesses purchased over computer networks, with a value of £466.

Competitions for Chapters

The ACM Student Chapter Excellence Awards

Establishing and operating an ACM student chapter in your university is not only about promoting knowledge and interest in modern computing—it is about participating in innovative activities, networking with colleagues, scientists and professionals, improving your skills, and of course, having fun. But it is also about competing and winning prizes! Do you think you are in one of the best chapters around the world? ACM Student Chapter Excellence Awards are here to award you for your excellence.

These awards aim to recognize chapters with outstanding initiative during the academic year. Chapter activities and website, community and school service, and recruitment program are the five key areas for which you can apply in order to gain fame and money. Winning chapters in each of these five areas receive $500 and a “best of” icon to proudly display on their chapter’s Web page. These chapters are also featured on the ACM Web site and in ACM MemberNet. This year’s deadline is Apr. 9, 2011, so you still have time to prepare a competitive application. To help you

georgia State’s chapter hosted mark guzdial (third from left).

get an idea about the competition, let’s take a look to some of the last year’s winners.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA, USA
Chartered in the mid-1980s
and operating for more
than 20 years, the student
chapter in Georgia State
University was the winner
of the recruitment program
award by which they
significantly increased their
membership. By setting
up tables at freshmen
orientation, handing out
flyers, giving prizes and
awards for game and raffle
winners, and talking about
the chapter in CS classes,
they succeeded in bringing
many new members to their
chapter. During the year they
promoted their activities
using the university’s radio
and TV station, built a
new web site and created
podcasts for their new
Facebook page.

“If I had to highlight just a few activities of the past year, I would choose the talks by Thad Starner (wearable computing) and Aaron Hillegass of Big Nerd Ranch (iPhone programming). The other highlight was the trip to Oak Ridge National Laboratory in March” said Dr. K. N. King, advisor of the chapter. This year the chapter continues its activities with more trips and talks, most recently “Meeting Everyone’s Need for Computing” by Dr. Mark Guzdial (see photo).

STANFORD, CALIFORNIA, USA Officers in the ACM Student Chapter in Stanford University won the community service award by organizing a marathon! While people were enjoying the Stanford Dance Marathon, 34 “hackers” hacked for 24 hours on non-profit software projects.

Feross Aboukhadijeh, the
president of the chapter,
says: “The idea originated
from brainstorming ways to
increase computer science
student participation in
public service. The belief
was that computer science
students participate in
Dance Marathon and
public service in general
at lower rates than other
majors because the projects
available do not interest
them or utilize their skills,
which are very valuable.
Therefore, we strived to
create a public service
opportunity that would
interest computer science
students and utilize their
talents and brilliance. What
we came up with was the
Hack-A-Thon.”
The idea was so succ-
essful that the chapter keeps
organizing and promoting
it. Recently, the third Hack-
A-Thon took place with new
projects and participants.
Chapter officers continue
working on other activities
like the “ACM Tech Talks”
series where speakers share
their CS tools, research,
and tech demos with the
Stanford CS community.