Accounting team earns top marks

Money is no object for some people. Still, it is the subject of critical study and debate for a select few IU students.\nPricewaterhouseCoopers recently named IU one of five winning teams in its national accounting competition. IU was one of 180 teams from 28 different colleges and universities from around the country which competed.\nThe competition, titled, Inaugural 2003 xACT Learning Experience, was held March 12 in New York City.\n"Going into the national competition, there was actually a little doubt as to whether or not it was to be a competition or an exhibition," sophomore Pete Kurinsky said. "However, we treated it as if it was a competition, and thus we expected the other four teams to be on the same level of preparedness, if not higher. We were all a bunch of sophomores competing against teams composed of MBA students, so naturally we were a bit intimidated."\nKurinsky, along with sophomores David Potter, Gregory Buhay, Joseph Stanfill and Ryan Elliot, were tested in their content, presentation skills and questions and answers pertaining to "real world" accounting situations, Kurinksy said. The teams gave presentations on various scenarios, presenting information and proposing solutions to a panel of judges. \nThe team practiced four times a week before the competition, winning $1,000 before the national competition even began as the top team on the IU campus. \n"In order to prepare for this competition, we did our own research and had regular meetings with Kelley School of Business faculty," Kurinsky said. "The team meticulously scrutinized every word of the presentation so as to maximize the content within our time frame. After that, we met at least four times every week to run through our presentation so as to be sure everybody had their part memorized."\nGreg Garrison, U.S. Assurance Leader with PwC, said the effect of the experience given to these students through competing is lasting.\n"The competition gave participants the opportunity to think about important issues and to convince others that their position was best," Garrison said in a statement. "And most importantly, the experiences these teams walk away with after having participated will serve them throughout their educational and professional careers."\nMichelle Krupa, a partner at PwC, also said the competition experience will play an important role in life for the participants involved. \n"Participating in xACT is an important distinction for these students and after reviewing the teams' entries, we are confident that the goal of the xACT program has been achieved -- to allow students to experience important business lessons that will benefit them both now and in the future," she said in a statement. \nPerhaps the most stressful moment of the competition for the IU team came when Jim Garrison, a PwC partner who is also in charge of nominations for the Academy Awards, presented the awards.\n"Naturally, he added as much delay as possibly to build a ridiculous amount of suspense," Kurinsky said. "It came down, in no particular order, of course, to us and Wake Forest, and as soon as we heard Wake's name, we knew we had won. I remember feeling a combination of relief and satisfaction. I had my doubts, but I knew that we did the best we could have possibly done and that we were going to be tough to beat."\nAs an award, the team received $10,000 and a trip to New York City to spend a day at PwC headquarters. \n-- Contact staff writer Matt Mattucci at mmattucc@indiana.edu.