ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, August 10, 1996 TAG: 9608120023
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
3 GOVERNOR'S SCHOOL students are creating a game on the U.S. Senate in hopes of winning $25,000 each.
Soon students around the world might be able to turn to their computers and learn how the U.S. Senate works.
Thanks to three students from the Roanoke Valley Governor's School for Science and Technology, other students may be able to play a simulated Senate game on the Internet.
The students have designed and created a 30-minute on-line computer game that can be played by up to 50 people at a time.
Players can participate in debate, introduce bills and amendments, vote on proposed legislation and simulate other senatorial duties.
"It's mainly an educational game that will teach people about the Senate, but it can be entertaining, too" said Robert Grubbs, a rising senior who has done much of the computer programming. "We think it could be used in government classes in high school."
Grubbs and two other rising seniors, Matt Stec and Michael Kolejka, are hoping their creation will earn each of them $25,000 college scholarships.
That's the grand prize in the "ThinkQuest'' competition for the creation of educational programs and computer games by students in grades seven through 12. The national contest is sponsored by a consortium of computer software companies and other corporations.
If the students win, the Governor's School also would receive a $5,000 prize, and their coach, Fred Hoffman, a physics and computer teacher at the school, would get $5,000.
If the students win either the top prize or the award in the social sciences category - which offers $15,0000 scholarships - their game will be placed on the Internet.
The contest rules say non-winning entries also may be put on the Internet if the judges determine they have educational merit.
Grubbs, who goes to school half a day at the Governor's School and the other half at Lord Botetourt High, said the competition is fierce, with scores of students from across the country trying to win the $25,000 scholarships.
Grubbs, who has been interested in computers since the fifth grade, has been working 20 to 25 hours a week on the project since school was out in June.
Stec and Kolejka estimated they have spent 10 to 12 hours a week on the computer program. Their home school is Cave Spring High.
The students have met a couple of hours weekly with Hoffman to review their work and the status of the project. As this month's deadline approaches, they have been meeting two or three times a week. Hoffman has offered advice and suggestions, but the students must do the work.
Stec said the students have split the research and tasks among themselves so no one is overburdened. They have gathered a wealth of information on Congress, the Senate, parliamentary procedure, seniority systems and political parties.
They have created a home page for the Senate game with extensive background on the Senate and U.S. government.
The students also have researched all 50 states extensively and have created a computer page for each. The state pages provide information on ethnic, gender and age breakdown, in addition to the major industries and economic features.
Grubbs said a 30-minute game is designed to simulate about 30 days in the life of a senator. The time is compressed, so the players have to act on items quickly.
When players sign on to the computer game, they are assigned a senator to represent.
"You are randomly assigned a party and state when you enter the game," Stec said. "You have access to material on your state and the opinions of voters in your state," along with information on the legislative issues the senator's staff has been working on
The students have prepared about 35 bills for the game, ranging from adoption of the metric system in the United States to a reduction in military aid to Japan. There are also bills on removing troops from Bosnia and increasing taxes on cigarettes.
The students have researched the pros and cons of each bill, and the information will be accessible to players for use in the computer debate. The players also can offer amendments to bills.
"We had to put the amendments and bill riders into a format so they can be used" in the game, Stec said.
All three students have a strong background in computers and share a keen career interest in them.
"I've been working on this kind of stuff for a long time," Grubbs said. "I'm going for the grand prize to pay for my college education."
Grubbs plans to attend Virginia Tech and study computer engineering. Kolejka hopes to study computer-aided design and architecture at Georgia Tech or Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Stec plans to go to Virginia Tech and study computer science with a possible minor in philosophy.
Besides the social sciences category, the Internet contest will include awards in science and math, arts and literature, sports, and an interdisciplinary category. Five scholarships will be given in each category, ranging from $15,000 per student for first place to $3,000 for fifth place.
LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON/Staff. Matt Stec (from left), Robertby CNBGrubbs and Michael Kolejka are working with teacher Fred Hoffman on
a computer game. color.