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This article presents information on the winning papers of the first annual ACM Communications Student Paper Competition organized by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). First place was given to the paper "Generating Parsers for Affix Grammars," by David R. Crowe of the University of British Columbia. The prize included $250 cash, a trip to ACM 72 to receive the award in person, and a three-year subscription to the ACM serial publication of his choice. Second place was given to the paper "Political Redistricting by Computer," by Robert E. Helbig, Patrick K. Orr, and Robert R. Roediger of Washington University. The prize included $150 cash, and for each author a three-year subscription to the ACM serial publication of his choice. Third place was given to the paper "An Extensible Editor for a Small Machine with Disk Storage," by Arthur J. Benjamin of Brandeis University. The prize included $100 cash, and a three-year subscription to the ACM serial publication of his choice. All of the refereeing of Competition papers was done by graduate students at various colleges and universities.

The article presents information on the First Student Paper Competition organized at Stanford, California by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). Although launched barely two years ago, the Student Paper Competition is proving to be a constructive force in computer science education at both graduate and undergraduate levels. Editorial and refereeing activities undertaken by graduate students translate into a type of professional development experience that is enriching for the participants and healthy for the profession as a whole. The active participation of an equal if not larger number of undergraduate students who submitted papers for the competition attests to the stimulation for scientific and professional growth among students in computer science everywhere. George E. Forsythe, who was a pioneer and who encouraged many of his colleagues to work toward the development of a computer discipline of widespread scientific value, strongly favored promoting the Student Paper Competition to serve this end. As a computer science department chairman he had encouraged the active participation of students in academic and administrative affairs at Stanford University and also at ACM. This example was the inspiration for the plan that graduate students take active and major roles in the management of the Competition.

This article acknowledges various contributors who have helped in the publication of the periodical "Communications of the ACM." The results of the first Student Paper Competition be dedicated to the memory of George E. Forsythe, who among his many contributions to the field was a past president of the Association for Computing Machinery and was the first editor of the Education Department of Communications. The author also expresses his gratitude to Elliott Organick for all that he did to help this project get started. It has been particularly rewarding to observe the progress of this competition. Special thanks are due to the outstanding students of Stanford University whose pioneering activities have undoubtedly defined the basic rules for what should become an important annual event.

The article discusses the latest developments related to the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). An interdepartmental Federal Government panel or task force has been organized by Burton W. Adkinson of the National Science Foundation's Office of Science Information Service to look into the scientific information activities of the U.S. The ACM Southeast region will offer prize for the best paper presented by an undergraduate at the national conference which is going to be held on August 24-26, 1965.