Who doesn't have a soft spot in their heart for a college competition in which teams are named "Team Kirk" and "Team Spock"?

Whatever it is they're selling ... I'm buying. (Although Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott was the fellow for whom I'd risk the wrath of Mom while sneaking out of bed to watch Star Trek from the top of our stairs as a child. A very, very young child.)

Team Kirk and Team Spock were challenged by Scott Anderson, their computer science instructor at the University of Southern Indiana, to undertake a "real world" project.

The challenge was to create a Lost & Found Management software program to replace the one we currently use. (Suffice to say we were ready for an upgrade.) And the class was up for the challenge.

Joe, our IT Director, is a man of relatively few words. When I asked him what he thought of the teams' results, he needed but three bon mots: "Pretty cool stuff."

That's Joe on the far left of the photo, above. Admissions Director Eric is on the far right. And IT Rusty is in the front row in the the, uh, rust-colored shirt.

The two teams don't know yet whose software program was chosen to be used at Holiday World. Was it Team Spock's cool logic or Team Kirk's quick wit (and rugged good looks) that won the day?

They won't find out until after the start of the next semester. And hopefully you, as a park guest, will never have to "real world" test the software program. But if you do happen to lose something while here at the park, chances are the new system will boldly go where our old system did not and if your item is located, we'll know in warp speed.

No bones about it.