U.S. slips lower in computer programming contest

A report on CNET News notes a continuing decline in a contest that U.S. colleges and universities used to "own."

"In what could be an ominous sign for the U.S. tech industry, American universities slipped lower in an international programming contest.
The University of Illinois tied for 17th place in the world finals of the Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest, which concluded Thursday. That's the lowest ranking for the top-performing U.S. school in the 29-year history of the competition. Shanghai Jiao Tong University of China took top honors this year, followed by Moscow State University and the St. Petersburg Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics. Those results continued a gradual ascendance of Asian and East European schools during the past decade or so. A U.S. school hasn't won the world championship since 1997, when students at Harvey Mudd College achieved the honor. 'The U.S. used to dominate these kinds of programming Olympics,' said David Patterson, president of the Association for Computing Machinery and a computer science professor at the University of California, Berkeley. 'Now we're sort of falling behind.' "