The 25 competitors converged to stretch their dexterous fingers. They typed feverishly, their eyes locked on the monitors in front of them. Some worked alone, others huddled in groups of three.

One team member’s T-shirt read: “WE CAME. WE SAW. WE CODED.” “It’s a battle between you and the screen,” said Joseph Thuemler, a third-year math major and president of the University of Florida chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery .

OK, these aren’t Ironman athletes.

However, several of these guys — there was only one woman present at a January club meeting — are international stars in their own right. In October, Thuemler was part of the UF team that ranked first in North America and 13^th globally out of nearly 1,000 teams during the IEEEXtreme 5.0 24-Hour Programming Competition, sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Competitors aim to out-smart their fiercest rivals in India, or Australia, or Estonia. For 24 hours straight last fall, Thuemler and two other students endured  minimal exposure to sunlight, sequestered in the computer laboratory of the UF New Engineering Building as proctors for the IEEEXtreme 5.0 made food runs to nearby grocery stores. The competitors took turns napping while at least one person attempted to solve the next problem that popped up on the screen.

These aren’t Sudoku exercises. Algorithms and computational geometry have applications found everywhere, such as those used in Google search engines or in an endless array of medical equipment.

Tara Parkins, a senior majoring in digital arts and sciences engineering, says she doesn’t mind being one of the few female students in the club. In fact, she prefers it to the time she spent in a sorority her freshman year where her sisters didn’t understand her affinity for Pokémon. Parkins’ fascination with the ‘90s video game is a non-issue for members of the computer programming team .

“From the moment I came to a meeting, I knew it was perfect,” Parkins said.

What’s thought of as ‘genius’ may be attributed to hard work, as well.

Many of the members began programming not as child prodigies but when they were in their mid–to-late teens, devoting many sleepless nights to tinkering with code. During competition season, the club practices a minimum of 15 hours a week. That dedication is leading to results.

At least two of the members received internships at Facebook this summer, including sophomore math and computer engineering student Cheran Wu. After accepting the internship, he then turned down a subsequent, offer to work instead for Justin.TV, the San Francisco-based start-up that allows users to broadcast videos live online.

Despite this success, there’s one thing that irks these coding aficionados: Hackers.

Well, kind of.

Thuemler, who will intern at Google this summer, plans to participate in the totally legit 2012 Facebook Hacker Cup.

“We’re trying to take the word ‘hacker’ back,” he said, smiling.

For more information about the UF Computer Programming Club, contact:

Joe Thuemler, club president, joethuemler@gmail.com

Dave Small, team coach, cise.dave@gmail.com

By Claudia Adrien

Logan Clark, 21, paused to type his answer as he would on an oversized iPad. “Unlike the civil rights movement,” he typed, “I believe that the number of people that support the occupy movement cannot make a similar impression.”

“The Wall,” a series of interactive and interconnected touch-screen panels, poses questions regarding pressing public policy issues. The social media tool was developed at the Bob Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida in an effort to create a platform for students to engage in civil debate about critical issues.

Clark, a mechanical engineering senior, was studying in Pugh Hall when he decided to answer the question. His response is now posted along with the responses of more than 100 other participants.

Clark said he’s never seen anything like The Wall. He felt that the chance to use the touch panels to enter responses and the five massive screens would get the attention of other students as well.

Sabin Ciocan, president of the Public Service Council, the student group behind creating and monitoring The Wall, said he felt its innovative look was one of its strong points.

“I think the student response will be, ‘Wow, this is a really cool thing’ as far as technology,” he said. “It’s been compared to the ‘Bourne Identity’ or the CNN Magic Screen.”

Another aspect in its favor is the large photographs attached to the comments. Everyone who answers the question in Pugh Hall will have a photo snapped through a high-powered digital camera.

“I think the biggest thing to get from The Wall is probably the fact that you get to communicate and actually see the person you’re debating with and actually put a face to it,” said Ciocan, a 21-year-old senior majoring in history and political science.

During testing, comments were more inflammatory when people could hide behind an anonymous username, he said. Having faces for the people engaged in the debate made it more personal.

Students in the Public Service Council monitor The Wall. They create the questions and police it for inappropriate use or comments. The questions they generate range from timeless questions such as whether citizens should vote to pertinent questions surrounding events and speakers coming to the Bob Graham Center, Ciocan said.

One such event, at 6 p.m. Jan. 20 in the Pugh Ocora, will be “The Poverty Tour: A Call to Conscience,” hosted by PBS talk show host Tavis Smiley and Princeton professor Cornel West. They posed the current question regarding the Occupy Wall Street Movement and will lead a discussion on poverty in America and examine possible solutions.

The Wall officially launches from 5 to 7 p.m. Jan. 25. The event includes a student party with free food and the chance to win Target and Starbucks gift cards.

Ciocan said he hopes students will visit The Wall, which also can be accessed through a mobile device, as regularly as “picking up the Alligator.”

Writer

Jensen Werley

Photographer

Eric Zamora – UF Photography

The University of Florida’s Facebook page has videos and more than 100 photos from Friday’s and Saturday’s commencement ceremonies. Check them out and become a fan, too.

Advanced Degrees Ceremony, Dec. 9

Webcast: Click to view.
Photo gallery: Click to view.

Bachelor Degrees Morning Ceremony, Dec. 10

Webcast: Click to view.
Photo gallery: Click to view.

Bachelor Degrees Afternoon Ceremony, Dec. 10

Webcast: Click to view.
Photo gallery: Click to view.