Andrew Bartlett, a second-year Nursing student, reloads his shotgun. The bodies of his opponents are scattered around him.
He starts to run down the corridors of the docking station he is fighting in. He's seeking other opponents. His one point lead over his closest competitor is fragile. And to stay still in Halo 3 is to die.
Bartlett doesn't see the other player in red armor as he rounds the corner. But Bartlett does notice the grenade the red player throws. Bartlett leaps to the side of the explosion, raising his shotgun in the process. He doesn't see the rocket the red player has launched at him until it's too late.
The rocket detonates right next to him. Bartlett watches his green armored body rag doll and spin through the air. It smacks into a metal wall. The crowd of spectators around him gasps. A chorus of "Ooh!" erupts.
Three seconds later, Bartlett's character is revitalized. And the process begins again.
Welcome to the Association for Computing Machinery's first club event: A Halo 3 tournament held at Swearingen Engineering Center.
The Association for Computing Machinery, or ACM, is a pre-professional organization open to all Computer Science and Computer Engineering majors. The ACM worked with Microsoft to organize the tournament.
"We host professors and organizations to speak at club functions, we host LAN (Local Area Network) parties, and cookouts." said Ben Fine, a fourth-year computer science major and president of the ACM. "We also tutor freshmen with computer science or computer engineering classes."
Microsoft provided equipment, copies of Halo 3 and a prize pack of games for the top two winners of the tournament. The ACM raffled off games for those who donated their own equipment for the tournament and giving away a copy of Halo 3. Pizza, drinks and cake were served. 65 students participated in the tournament and over 100 attended.
Bartlett won the tournament, and will get first pick among the games provided in the Microsoft prize pack. "Halo got me into video games," said Bartlett. "I started playing with friends my freshman year, and going to Halo parties. It's just fun, and I always have a great time." He does not take all the credit for his Halo skills. "I want to thank my girlfriend Bridget for being so supportive," he said.
Fine hopes that the tournament will get help the ACM grow in membership. Currently, the AMC averages around 20 members per meeting.
"We have only been on campus officially for about a year. This is our big coming out year, we want people to know who we are and what we do," Fine said. "We just really want our name to get out there."
Students interested in joining the ACM can send an email to Ben Fine at fineb@mailbox.sc.edu or attend an ACM meeting in Swearingen room 2A17 on Mondays at 5:00 pm.
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