4 minute read
Infomatics Olympiad
Short Story — ‘The Refuge’
Until now there had been no time to survey properly my new surroundings. My only concern had been surviving each day to journey here safely. Having nestled closely to my mother during that time for protection, I am left feeling wary and frightened as I explore my new home independently. With the exception of unruly Spinifex bushes stretching in every direction, there is little else to remind me of the environment we left behind. Curiosity beckons me to investigate these new surroundings, but as I try to absorb the scene, fear overwhelms me. Before long I am racing, frantically searching for any familiarity, but in every direction the vegetation remains strange and disconcerting. My compass is no longer as instinctive as it once was. Our first priority has been to establish shelter. I share an area with my sister. Sadly, my brother was killed just days before our crossing here and I struggle with his loss. Food had been scarce for a long time and my brother, once physically strong, with little food to sustain him, his body weakened, he became vulnerable to enemy attack. Like so many other refugee families we have had no time to come to terms with change and have been forced to live day by day. We are used to guarding ourselves from attack and although this new environment seems less hostile, we are aware of being intruders. We have tried to burrow into this community unnoticed, preferring to keep to ourselves. It is not part of our culture to assimilate. We not only look different, we have different values. The land is extremely important to us and we have always lived off it, with skills passed on through generations. It is innate, but we were helpless to stop the changes, which precipitated the destruction of our homeland. We were silent as they introduced foxes, rabbits and feral cats. We watched as these creatures began to prey and threaten weaker species. We were powerless as huge areas of forest were destroyed to build car parks, shopping centres and high rise buildings. We could not intervene when greenhouse gas emissions caused global warming. As the Earth warmed, we witnessed the decline of snow cover. Then, because their lifestyle was being threatened, they began to notice. This awareness gave them a voice and they are slowly changing their ways. Constantly, fauna and flora are threatened with extinction, food chains are interrupted and sea levels rise. Natural disasters continue to be extreme; floods, tsunamis, cyclones, and droughts. Harmful diseases evolve and flourish, affecting populations. It is too late to save our homeland, it is gone forever. Here in the darkness, the horror of what we have all been through overwhelms me. My heart is racing and I am frightened for the baby my mother is carrying. It will never know the beauty of our natural environment, before the destruction. It will be born into this new place, where hopefully life will be better. I do not have good eyesight, but my hearing is acute, as is my sense of smell. Close by a fire is burning. The night air soothes as it cools. A Nunga stops to acknowledge my presence. I realise we are in a good place. He has as much respect for the land as we do and I think we bilbies might just survive after all. Marcus Topp Year 10
In June three teams — one Senior and two Junior — entered the New South Wales Computer programming competition. The Senior team came 5th, and were invited, along with another 9 teams from across Australia, to take part in a Grand Final competition at NSW University Open Day. Jack Murray the leader, assisted by Joshua Rowlands and Bill Vlahos, came second, earning themselves a cash prize of $2500 each and scholarship money to NSW University. Eighty minutes into the competition two teams managed to solve their last problems. Unfortunately we were 20 seconds behind James Ruse Agricultural College, Sydney. Both teams scored 100% and were the only teams to complete all questions.
Informatics Olympiad 2008
Year 12 student, Jack Murray, is the only Australian to take out a Gold Medal at the recent Informatics Olympiad in Cairo. The Australian team scored its best ever result, recording a clean sweep of medals, exceeding its result in Zagreb in 2007. Jack earned a Gold Medal, recording the 9th highest score in the international competition. On the basis of a medal table giving three points for Gold, two for Silver and one for Bronze, Australia was placed equal 8th out of almost 90 competing countries. Jack won a Silver medal last year in Zagreb. The International Olympiad in Informatics is the pinnacle of competition in computer science for high school students around the world. Each country sends a team of four students to participate in ten hours of programming competition. The International Olympiad in Informatics is the second largest of the International Science Olympiads, sanctioned by UNESCO, with the number of participating countries approaching 90.
