KIds try to build towers out of food

Ten teams of Iowa high schoolers will compete in a contest today to see who can build the tallest tower using only uncooked spaghetti noodles & gumdrops. The students will be building their towers in their own schools but they’ll be linked with live sound & video via the Iowa Communications Network. Dave Holger is associate dean of the Iowa State University College of Engineering, which is coordinating the third annual tower-building event. He says the students continue to improve on previous year’s records.Holger says each team will have 18 minutes to build the tallest tower possible, using only the given materials. He says about 250 students will be taking part in the 2 p-m competition from seven cities.That prize money is earmarked for school equipment or classroom materials. Schools taking part are from: Ames High, Cedar Falls High, Des Moines East, Des Moines Roosevelt, Dubuque Wahlert, Dubuque Senior, Davenport West, Muscatine High, Sioux City East & Sioux City West.