Marriott School Students Score Double Honors in National Tax Competition

PROVO, Utah — Dec 08, 1999 — Accounting students at Brigham Young University's Marriott School did what was thought to be the impossible in 1998, placing among the top three schools at both the undergraduate and graduate levels of the nation's most prestigious tax competition. Last year was the first time any university had placed two teams among the top three.

This year, Marriott School students did it again.

The school's 1999 undergraduate team took first place in the Arthur Andersen Tax Challenge, winning a $20,000 award, and the graduate team finished third in their division, receiving $5,000.

"These victories serve as reminders that we are educating our students not only to earn degrees, but to enter the workplace prepared to deal with real world situations," said Ned C. Hill, dean of the Marriott School. "We are thrilled by the fact that the Marriott School was one of only three universities whose undergraduate and graduate teams were represented in the final competition."

The first-place undergraduate team consisted of Tracy Ludington, Kara Arnold, Heather Mabey and Bryan Adams, with Prof. Robert Gardner acting as adviser. The third-place graduate team, advised by Prof. Ron Worsham, consisted of Mark He, Shane Boyer, Danny Sims and Ben Hays.

"We've got great students that know how to work - and work well together," Gardner said. "Overall, I think we've performed better in this contest than any other school in the nation."

The collegiate competition, designed to stimulate student interest in the field of taxation, provides university students studying tax an opportunity to display the skills they have acquired as well as earn money for their respective programs.

This year, 123 teams from 98 universities entered regional competitions held across the country. From these regional contests, the top ten graduate and undergraduate teams earn the right to advance to the national competition, held November 20 at the Arthur Andersen Center for Professional Education in St. Charles, Ill.

At the competition, teams of up to four students use their tax knowledge to develop a series of recommendations and solutions regarding the business and financial dealings of a fictitious client. Teams are given seven hours to read and solve the case, using only the Internal Revenue Code and Treasury Regulations as resources. At the end of the time limit, each team prepares a written report evaluating the client's situation and makes tax-planning recommendations. A panel of Arthur Andersen judges evaluates the report.